Even An Addict Wants To Be Needed
by TheAga13
Summary: Coming from Washington D.C., Norman Jayden didn't suspect any help with his investigation - especially from reserved archeologist who decided to make a little digging into his heart... Rated M for violence, bad language, drug use and sexual content.
1. Chapter 1  Not so lucky beginning

So there's my first FanFiction. This idea has grown in my mind for around a month. It has become more intense since I found a thread on called 'Norman Jayden...' created by ZoeChar (if you ever read it, Zoe - best regards!). It's locked now but it's still a big pleasure to read. Seek and find it! ('cause somehow I wasn't able to paste a link down there)

As I wrote before, it's my first story. Please enjoy it and don't forget about reviews!

TheAga13

Disclaimer: I don't own Heavy Rain (including Norman) or Tomb Raider, or even PS3. But most of this story was created by me and that's abso-fucking-lutely mine!

* * *

Chapter 1

Not So Lucky Beginning...

1st October 2011

1:06 PM

Coming back home is never easy. But sometimes it brings relief. Especially after 6 months of digging in some god-forsaken place in Egypt, trying to find something valuable enough to prove yourself as a women who deserves calling her an archaeologist. Luckily, Lara was an archaeologist through and through. Bringing an ancient artifact with a prophecy about the end of the world made her proud and known - only because according to it the apocalypse was going to happen 348 years later than the closest date known now – 2012, I mean. But it didn't really matter. Still, it was a great achievement, a pass for Lara – it let her enter the world of 'big fishes': famous scientists, discoverers and anthropologists.

In just a few years she became one of the bests – wanted and needed. If any important discovery was made, she was there – and she loved it! Traveling became the indispensable part of her being. Yesterday India, today Peru and the Arctic tomorrow – that was the way she liked it.

Of course, establishing a family was nearly impossible with such a lifestyle. But it was no problem for Lara. She had her her mother and father, some friends and her boss - a good mate as well. That was enough. Lara was the type of girl who was unapproachable. She was rather reserved and she's never been in love. She simply reconciled to a thought about her in 50 years – old, lonely and sad. But for now she was too young to think about retirement. All she wanted was to lead a life full of adventured and adrenaline. Nothing more, nothing less.

These thoughts were with Lara all way back home. Riding her yellow Ducati Monster 1100 between cars was her favourite time to think. It came to an end as she parked right in front of her apartment on Galveston Ave. She cut the engine and slowly walked to main door of the building in front of her. Then she drew out her keys and used them on a lock. Lara came inside and immediately knew there was something wrong. The door to her apartment weren't completely closed. She opened them carefully and decided to call the police.

* * *

Half an hour later Lara saw car parking in an alley right next to her apartment. She came out and froze. She wasn't expecting a lieutenant to be sent to a burglary, especially THIS lieutenant.

"Good afternoon. Are you Miss Lara Croft?" she heard.

"Yes, that's me."

"Lt. Carter Blake, Philadelphia Police Department. You reported a housebreaking, right?"

Lara nodded.

"I'd like to see a crime scene."

"Of course. Follow me."

There was nothing that could surprise a young woman more than Carter Blake. She knew a lot about him; that he was ruthless and violent. She wasn't scared of him, though. She could deal with this sort of bastards.

"Wow" Blake whistled. "It's looking like after a fucking war."

Lara twisted her face hearing the f-word. She wasn't the cursing one. Sometimes she said 'damn' or 'dammit'. 'Hell' was in the use too. But the f-word was reserved for extremely high pressure situations. They were extremely rare, either. However, this time, she agreed with a policeman completely.

Everything was everywhere. Her books – about archeology and classic literature – were under her bed. DVDs were lying calmly in the sink and all TV cables were cut.

Lieutenant scratched himself in the head. "Who the hell could do something like this?"

Lara didn't know the answer so she said quietly "I haven't got the faintest idea."

"Well, of course you don't. Have you moved anything?"

"No, I haven't even touched anything."

"Good girl, good girl" Blake said, nodding and trying to collect evidence from her 'Pride and Prejudice' copy. "Most people are moving everything back on its place immediately after coming home, even before calling the cops. No wonder we're not able to find a burglar."

Lara smirked. She knew how to act in front of the crime – she was in a law family for 8 years.

"OK, I think I've got all I need. Now the only one left is -"

A cell phone rang. It wasn't Lara's. Blake sighed and reached into his pocket. Ringing became louder as lieutenant put out his mobile and picked up. "What the fuck –"

He suddenly stopped.

"Oh, Captain Perry. Nice to hear you, sir. No, I'm finishing. I just have to – Right, right. I'll be right there. Tell Ash to wait for me"

"Sorry, darling, but we have to finish this later" said Blake, putting his phone into his pocket. "They need me right now."

He started to walk away but turned around "It would be good if you come today to the station and testify. I'm free at 6. Meanwhile, you can clean up this mess."

* * *

Lara sighed with a relief seeing lieutenant's car leaving from the alley. Then she grabbed her cell and phoned her best friend Jade, hoping she'd never have to see Blake ever again.

How wrong she was…


	2. Chapter 2 Welcome, Norman!

Yeah, so there's another chapter. I know you're all wondering how did I manage to write it so fast but there's a simple answer: I prepared it some days ago because I know that you're waiting for our favourite agent to appear. So am I. Let's go then!

* * *

Chapter 2

Welcome, Norman!

1st October 2011

6:32 PM

Lara Croft was starting to lose her patience.

She had been waiting for Blake for more than 30 minutes and he still wasn't there. Sitting on a hard chair at the station and feeling everyone's gazes wasn't something what she liked. Fortunately, she had a volume of Celtic poetry in her backpack so she didn't bore at least.

Reading ancient words about nature of humanity she didn't even see a guy standing next to her and she realized his presence only after he asked "May I sit here?"

Lara raised her eyes from a book and froze – second time this day – looking directly into ice blue eyes of a pale man right in front of her.

"No problem" she said politely, smiling. The man smiled back but didn't take a seat. A few seconds later Lara knew why: her bloody backpack was on the second chair. She moved it immediately.

"I'm sorry, I just…"

"Don't worry, it's fine"

Young woman became feeling hot and lowered her eyes onto the text. _Dammit, Lara, stay focus!_ _It's nothing that he's got the palest eyes you've ever seen. Relax. Take it easy. Just breathe and don't be red anymore!_

It worked and she was able to read again. But only for a while because the men sitting next to her asked a question.

"Do you think it's gonna take long?"

She opened her mouth with an expression of complete surprise, ready to say something foolish but a mature woman behind a desk became her salvation.

"No, he should be finished soon"

Her companion sighed but relaxed a bit. Lara relaxed too, happy that the question wasn't addressed to her. Since then she decided not to look to the right at any condition, even if 'someone' would have a heart attack.

A few minutes later she was disturbed again. This time, directly.

"Excuse me?"

Having no other choice, Lara turned her face against the stranger. This time she wanted to remain calm and carefully watch him.

"What are you reading Miss?"

"Celtic poetry." Quiet answer came through her mouth.

"May I?"

"Of course" said Lara, giving the book to a man. He frowned, looking at the text, then nodded and answered with smile.

"I'm afraid I'm not able to read it."

She returned a smile or rather a smirk.

"No wonder. Only a few know Celtic."

She could see a bright glare in his eyes, a glare of something. An amusement? An astonishment? No, not only these. An admiration.

"You DO know Celtic?"

"I'm an archaeologist. I know some ancient languages."

"I'm impressed. What is an archaeologist doing at the police station? Are you accused of a tomb robbery?"

Lara couldn't stop herself and laughed.

"No, not exactly. I reported a burglary today and I'm waiting for lieutenant Carter Blake to testify and finally go home."

"What a coincidence. I need to speak to Carter Blake too."

"I'm afraid we have to wait a while more. He told me he's free at six. Now it's nearly seven. Maybe he won't come at all."

"You should never lost hope"

She looked into his eyes again and she felt like entire world was closed in them. The stranger was looking into her eyes too. It felt awkward. There was a embarrassing silence between them and then the door next to their chairs opened unleashing elderly looking man.

It made her companion immediately stand up and start talking with dark-haired figure. She heard he introduced himself but he did it so quietly that she didn't catch his name. Never mind. She'd probably never see him again. He didn't look like someone staying here for long but even if he was, she wasn't planning visiting this station again in next ten years. Lara grabbed her Celtic volume again and started to read, realizing that since the stranger arrived she was reading the very same page all the time. She looked at her watch.

_7:13. Where the hell is Blake?_

* * *

Twenty minutes of violent thoughts about lieutenant later she was at the end of her tether.

_7:33. Bloody 7:33. I'm sitting here for more than one and half an hour and this bastard still isn't here! But I won't give up. I'll sit here until he comes and I'll tell him w__hat does it mean to wait for someone for so long!_

Five minutes later she had absolutely enough. She rose and nearly grabbed her backpack and stormed out in the never stopping rain when she heard the door slam. She turned into the direction the noise came from and she saw...

_...a ghost!_ No way!_ It isn't a ghost, it can't be! _She didn't believe in ghosts but the figure was white as sheet. Then she realized who was that: the man who had asked her about Celtic poetry. She ran to him and immediately regreted this. At close range he looked even worse. His nose was bleeding, his hands were trembling. She touched his forehead – it was hot as hell!

„Allright, relax, I'll take you somewhere where I'll be able to fix you" _But where? _

She took a quick look. _Captain's office? No... Outside? Hell no! Restrooms...? The restroom, yes!_

She dragged the nearly unconscious man to the men's toilet. She somehow dealt with the door and stormed inside. To turn the jammed faucet on she needed both hands. Meanwhile her patient slipped out of her arms and with a superhuman effort she managed to catch him before he hit the wash-basin.

„Whoa, slow down, cowboy! We've got still a long way ahead of us!"

Lara took some cold water into her hands and poured it into man's face. Then again and again. A minute later he was able to do it by himself. She was watching as her companion became less and less pale: finally he was looking like nothing happened. When she was absolutely sure he wouldn't fall over she released him.

„I'm glad you're fine now."

„Me too." His voice was quiet and calm, weak.

„Thank you for your help."

Lara smiled.

„You're welcome. I always liked fixing up people. Mum's always told me I should be a doctor. By the way, you should see one."

„No way!"

His voice became stronger, aggressive. His eyes were sparkling, full of anger.

„ Trust me, the doctor doesn't bite. He'll just examine you here and there, give you a prescription, you'll buy some pills and take them two times a day and that's all."

„No! I... I have bad memories with the doctors. Either way, thanks for advice."

„Not a problem. Now I think I'll leave you to let you recover a little"

Lara stepped out the restroom and sat on the chair again. Obviously no one noticed anything unusual. She sighed. That was the moment Blake appeared on the scene.

„Lieutenant, you're finally here! I've been waiting for you for nearly two hours! What for God's sake -" she was cut off by Carter with just one movement of his hand.

„I ain't no time for you tonight, Croft. Go home. We'll talk tomorrow."

That was definatelly too much.

„Go home? You're two hours late for our meeting and you're telling me to go home? No way, lieutenant! I want to testify! It's now or never!"

She didn't say anything special but that was enough to throw him off his balance. He came closer and said, breathing into her face.

„Listen, pretty little thing – I'm the law here! And if I say 'go home' you go home, right? If you don't like it, call the cops. Oh, I've forgotten – I'm a cop! So shut the fuck up and get the hell out of there! I don't want to see your pretty face again!"

Despite angry Blake right in front of her she didn't move a muscle.

„I said beat it!"

„Calm down, lieutenant. What's the problem?"

It was the stranger. Carter was watching him carefully but nothing more happened.

„And who the fuck are you?"

„I'm Norman Jayden. Captain Perry said he had told you about my arrival."

„Jayden... Yeah, maybe. But I thought that saving ladies isn't the reason you were sent here."

„Indeed. I'm just hoping I could help somehow."

Blake thought for a moment, scratched himself and finally spoke.

„Yeah, there's something. You see, this pretty lady reported a burglary today. I told her I'll interrogate her tonight but... I'm fucking tired and I want to go home and relax. I told her to act the same but she's stubborn like a mule and wants to testify right now. I think you can do me a favour and deal with her?"

Both Blake and the second man were looking at Lara while she was looking nowhere particularly. _God, I must look like mentally retarded or nuts._

„Fine, I think I can handle that."

„Thanks, Jayden. I owe you one." Blake slapped Jayden's back and left. Both Lara and her companion were looking at him for a while but then he interrupted.

„May we start?"

„Sure, Mr Jayden."

He smiled hearing his surname.

„Let's go to my office."

She followed him to his office. _Well, office is a big word. This is a broom closet!_

There was dust everywhere. All furniture were old and neglected. It wasn't too hard to see that it was rather not in frequent use.

„Quite impressive office." Lara said ironically.

„Yeah, but I don't see it most of the time."

She suspected there was some hidden context behind these simple words but she knew it required time to crack this one.

„I've got only one chair so please take a seat Miss..."

„Croft. Lara Croft."

„Norman Jayden. Nice to meet you, miss Croft."

„Nice to meet you too, Mr Jayden."

They shook hands and young Miss Croft sat down.

„Okay, so where shall we start?" she asked, playing with a strand of her hair.

„Well, at the beginning – what time did you come back home?"

„It was after one. I don't remember exactly but after one PM for sure."

„Closer to one or two?"

„One. Definitely one."

„Closer to one..." Jayden repeated, writing on a piece of paper.

„All right, now..." he stopped. Lara looked at him disoriented, still curling her hair.

„Could you please stop doing this?"

„But what...?"

„Playing with your hair. It's... distracting me."

„Oh, fine, of course." she said and laid her hands on her knees.

„Thanks. So where did we finish...? Oh, right. Where were you when the burglary was taking place?"

„I was visiting my employer and a good friend, Stella Bloom."

„Can you tell me something more about her?"

„Well, she's a curator of University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archeology and Anthropology. I work for her. She's the one who organizes researches and expeditions. Stella's also responsible for UPMAA funds. That's her job to get money and enable archaeologists and scientists to do their job. If anything happens to the funds, she gets hit first."

„And what about her personal life?"

„It's nothing interesting to say. She's not married, no children. A few friends – only the ones who she trusts deeply. I feel honoured being so close to her."

„Fine. How did your meeting go?"

„We met in Superstar, a cafe with the best coffee in Philly. We talked a bit about my last excavations and she told me about a new project. I'm leaving in the first days of January."

„Where to?"

„Greece. There are rumours about a secret temple hidden high in the mountains. I'm going to find it."

„You sound quite self-confident."

„I just love what I'm doing. And I'm not good at it. I'm not even great. I'm the best archeologist in the States, one of the bests worlwide. There are no ruins that can hide for eternity – you just have to know where to seek."

„OK, let's go back to the topic. When did you meet her?"

„It was around noon. A few minutes before, I suppose."

„So you were talking for almost an hour?"

„Talking, drinking coffee and eating. She invited me for lunch."

„Fine for me. What did you do as you came home and saw what happened?"

„I immediately called the police. I haven't touched or moved anything."

„Okay. Then Lt. Blake arrived. He collected the evidence and left. What did you do next?"

„I called my friend to help clean up this whole mess."

„Who exactly?"

„Jade Collins. She's one of the most trustworthy persons I know. „

„How long have you known her?"

„We met seven years ago when I went to Harvard."

„You studied at Harvard?"

„Yes. I was studying archeology while she was probed into the mysteries of mechanical engineering. One day she picked me up from university and invited for pizza, claiming that I seem unusual. We finished talking at about three in the morning. A month later we rented a small apartment together and lived there for five years. After graduation I decided to come back to Philadelphia. Then it appeared that Jade's got some sort of uncle in Philly but she hasn't seen him for ages. Research revealed that he was dead for three years and she's the one who inherits everything he had. At least we came here together and started living on our own. We're still very close and if Jade or I have any kind of problem we know where to knock."

„All right. Now, when you were cleaning up everything you checked is anything missing?"

„Yeah. I keep money in a bank so they're safe. I have no jewellery or any sort of expensive stuff. Besides entire electronic equipment was at its right place. There was only one thing missing."

„What?"

„Nothing special. An old photo. Took eight or seven years ago. It shows me with my family and someone more but I can't remember who exactly..."

„Interesting... Well, it seems that I have no more questions. You're free to go, Miss Croft."

Lara rose and shook hands with young man. „It was a pleasure to meet you, Mister."

„The pleasure was all mine" he said, opening the door ahead of them.

„Jayden, there you are!"

It was Blake again. He looked quite pissed off. „What the fuck were you doing all that time?"

Then he looked at Lara. „And she's still here? Perfect. Just perfect. Say goodbye to your new friend Jayden and move your ass. We've got some work to do."

Lieutenant turned around and walked away, leaving Norman and his companion alone.

„He's threating you like pre-school kid." Miss Croft responded, shaking her head. „You're new here?"

The man thought for a moment. „Kind of."

„I see. You must feel a little lost and lonely out here."

He didn't react.

„Well, if you ever wanna talk, call me at this number." she continued and put a small piece of paper at a nearby desk. She wrote some digits on it and left it there. „See you around, Mr Jayden. Good luck." and with these words she left the station.

Young FBI profiler scratched himself in the head, took a quick look at the little piece of paper on the desk, watched Blake arguing with other cop for a while, then took another look at the desk, longer this time, sighed and hid a small paper with telephone number into pocket of his jacket.


	3. Chapter 3 Quite A Beginning

Hey! There's third chapter of my FanFic. I hope you'll like it and review of course!

* * *

Chapter 3

Quite a beginning

1st October 2011

4:02 PM

"Why the hell this goddamn spot doesn't want to come off!"

Lara was getting more and more upset. She'd been trying to remove a stain from chocolate off her favourite red blanket for over an hour and it was remarkably stubborn. The worst part was that she didn't remember when she had eaten chocolate recently. Especially in bed.

Eventually she put it in the washing machine and left the bathroom. Young woman sank weakly on her light green sofa and was plunged in lethargy for no apparent reasons.

She was woken up by a phone call. She rose and searched her cell for a while, finding it in her washing machine. It surprised her a little but she answered being absolutely calm.

"Yes?"

"Is it Miss Lara Croft on the line?"

"Speaking." she responded carefully. "Who's there?"

"It's Norman Jayden. We met two days ago at the station. You remember me?"

That surprised her more than her mobile phone in the washing machine. _Of course, how could I not remember... A guy with the palest eyes I've ever seen. The nicest too._

Lara was so shocked that she simply forgot she was talking on the phone and nodded.

"Hello? Are you still there? Can you hear me?"

Miss Croft became alive again and decided to say something.

"I'm still on the line, yes. How do you feel, Mr Jayden?"

"Wha- Sorry?"

"I mean your little accident. Is everything fine with you Mister?"

"Oh, this... I'm fine, thank you. And how are you, Miss Croft?"

"Quite good, thanks. I wonder why you're phoning me."

"Well, you said that if I ever wanna talk I can call. And I think I do want to... Maybe we can go out somewhere and have a quick chat?"

"Why not. But I would prefer to invite you to my place."

"Hold on. Did I understand you properly? You want to invite me to your place?"

"Something you don't like in this idea?"

"No... It's just that I'm a stranger to you. I doubt it's safe to show strangers when do you live."

"You're a stranger to me no longer. I know your name. Besides I used to trust law enforcement representatives."

"You're thinking I am one?"

"I suspect so. If I'm wrong just say the word."

"I don't have to because you are absolutely right. I do have something in common with the law protecting."

"So I guess we're arranged. When do you have time to come?"

"I don't know. Maybe at about seven. I don't want to occupy your evening-"

"You don't. And seven suits me. I'll prepare something to eat."

"There's really no need to-"

"It's no problem. I like cooking. And not everyday I have the pleasure to eat with a company."

"Fine. Thanks. And I've got just one last question..."

"I'm all ears."

"Where am I supposed to drive?"

"Oh, right, I've almost forgotten. 223 Galveston Avenue just next to Vauxite Street. Apartment number 1, first door on the left."

"All right, I got it. So... See you at seven I guess."

"See you."

Lara put her phone away and sighed. _Looks like I've just found myself some work for the rest of the evening._

* * *

7:01 PM

"_Damn, he's still not here!"_

"_And what have you expected? Don't you think that it seemed weird? All this stuff with 'having a quick chat'? He's just not the type."_

"_Maybe. But I'll wait for him. Even 'till midnight."_

"_You're an idiot, you know that? You know him for two days and you already fell for him."_

"_I DIDN'T FALL FOR HIM!"_

"_Of course you did. You'll see in time..."_

She was close to punch her other self right in the face but the very same moment the entryphone rang.

"_You're lucky you smart-ass!" _she eventually ended her internal talking and picked up.

"Yes?"

"It's me. Norman Jayden."

"Oh, great. Come in." she responded, pressing the button.

"Thanks."

A few seconds later she heard a knock. She opened the door and saw her guest with a single white rose in his hand.

"Hey. This is for you." he said, giving her the flower.

"Oh my... You really didn't have to."

"Maybe. I'm just not the type who visits a woman empty-handed, especially when she's going to prepare a meal."

Lara was simply delighted. She wasn't expecting this sort of a gift. Actually she wasn't expecting any.

"Thank you. Now take off your coat and have a seat." she continued, pointing out the sofa.

The man followed her orders while she was putting the rose in a vase.

"By the way, sorry for being late," Norman apologized "but I just lost my way."

The host couldn't help but laughed. Her guest pretended offended.

"Hey. It's not that easy to find a way in such a big and pulsing city."

"You're right. Sometimes it can be hard."

After placing the vase on a chest of drawers she came to the man and asked.

"Would you like something to drink?"

"I'd love to." he answered.

Lara nodded and directed her steps to an opened kitchen.

"What would you like? I've got whiskey and some beer."

She could see a smile on her companion's face.

"Sorry but I've driven here. I mustn't drink."

_I should've known! I said something stupid again!_

"Of course. What a silly me. So maybe something from non-alcoholic beverages?"

"I'm craving for a simple white coffee. This at the station is awful. I wouldn't try this shit on my enemies."

She laughed again. "It can't be THAT bad."

Norman thought for a moment. "No, it's actually worse."

Lara shook her head with disbelief and continued. "Fine. One big white coffee in progress."

"Thanks."

She decided to have a coffee too. She preferred espresso, though. Intensive taste and aroma were what she loved in it and what she couldn't live without.

When both drinks were ready she took them and placed on a coffee table right in front of the sofa.

"Here you go." she added, pushing a white big mug to Norman.

"Thank you."

He sipped some coffee carefully and swallowed it. Then he sighed and closed his eyes.

"Finally something drinkable. It's really good one."

"I'm glad you're thinking so."

"How do you make such a good coffee?"

"Well, it's one of the Aztecs ancient recipes. First of all..."

* * *

"...then I landed in a hole we dug previous day. It was about sixteen feet deep. I nearly broke my leg. But I was safe and sound down there. Well, it could be better. Everyone went to get some supplies. I was the only one left. I had to find a way out. I put out my flashlight and watched all walls carefully. I found an inscription on one. It led me to a small pass covered with quite big stone. Until now I haven't got the faintest idea how I moved this damn thing but I crawled to another chamber. The one with an old artifact we were all looking for. I took it from its place and suddenly everything started to fall down. I ran to a damaged stone ladder and climbed to the higher level of the tomb. From there I slid down some rocks and finally saw the sunlight. When I came out I saw that I was right behind our camp. All this time we had no idea the tomb was so damn close. And now it's lost forever under dust and sand.

When my mates came back they were very surprised. They were happy as well, not only because I've found an artifact. They were glad I was alive. I didn't know they cared about me that much.

But they surprised me most when we came back to the States. During the public presentation of our discovery they told that it's only me who found it. They resigned from their part of fame saying that I truly deserve it.

That's how my real career started. I owe them a great debt of gratitude. Without them I will never become who I am today."

"I see. Can you tell me something from an earlier period of your life? Childhood or teenage? Or simply start from the very beginning. Where were you born?"

"Well, I was born in Las Vegas on 14th February."

"14th February? You mean Saint Valentine's Day?"

"Yeah. It was always a problem for me though."

"Why?"

"No one ever remembered about my birthday, except my parents of course. I've gotten tones of Valentine's Day cards but never any Birthday one. It hurt me. But I got used to it as I went to high school."

"Can you tell me something more about your parents?"

"My mum Eva was from Mexico. She met my dad Phil when she was 18 and married him immediately after graduation. Next February she bore me."

"What happened next?"

"When I was three they got divorced. Mum stayed in Las Vegas and raised me while dad traveled all over the States. He lived in Phoenix, Boston, San Francisco, New York, Washington and Seattle. Finally he settled here in Philadelphia. He run a bookstore and library there. My father loved books. Especially historical ones. He had always dreamed of becoming an archaeologist and studying different cultures. He never had any possibility to do it. I guess that's why I wanted to be an archaeologist too. When he visited me on my sixteenth birthday he promised me he'll take me with him to Philly one day and I'll go to school there. I wanted to go there so much."

"Looks like you finally got here."

"Actually, it wasn't my decision."

"So how the hell have you landed here?"

There was an uncomfortable pause. Lara hid her face in her hands. Norman waited for a long moment but nothing happened. He finally bent to shake his companion.

"Miss Croft, are you fine? Miss Croft? Lara?"

She finally woke up hearing her name.

"I'm fine. It's just... traumatic memories. You can't help it."

"Hmm... Maybe I can. Just tell me."

"Are you a psychologist or something?"

"You can say that. So how will it be?"

"All right." she sighed. "I have to get rid of this. A talk is the best way, isn't it?"

"You're absolutely right. Just don't hurry."

"OK. It all started when I was sixteen. I was on holidays with my mum in Alaska. She met a guy there. His name was Mark. Mark Williams. She simply fell for him. We came back home together, all three of us. He didn't live with us but he spent some nights in our house occasionally.

I didn't blame mum for being in love. I just wanted her to be happy. And she really was. Mark was very handsome and rich. He was telling us he works as a lawyer. He kept giving us lots of luxurious and very expensive gifts. Despite all this I didn't trust him at all. And I was stupid enough to tell him this straight to his face. He was very polite and told he was trying everything to break the ice between us. I told him the same. And that was true. But I just couldn't. There was something wild in his eyes as he was looking at mum. Like he was a predator and she was his prey. I kept telling it to her but she didn't care.

And then the holidays two years later... There was my last year in high school ahead of me. Mark decided I had to stay with my father for this year. He already lived in Philadelphia. My father, I mean. Mum agreed with her love, so I packed my things and left. I called my dad from the airport in Las Vegas and flew here. Dad was supposed to pick me up from the airport. But he was nowhere as I landed. I called him but he didn't answered. In this case I decided to take a taxi and go to his bookstore. When I told a taxi driver an address he looked at me carefully and asked if I was sure about it. I confirmed. So he drove me to my destination.

When I came out the car I saw lots of cops all around my dad's place. I asked what had happened. I heard that the owner of the shop had been murdered last night, probably by a motorcycle gang. I was shocked. I wasn't even able to cry. I simply phoned mum and told her the truth. She ordered me to immediately come back. But then Williams threw in and said no. No, he didn't wish me to come back. My mother started to argue with him and I heard her saying "What are you doing with this gun?" I froze. She screamed and I could hear a gunshot. Then everything went quiet. The entire world stopped for a moment. When everything was normal again, Williams said to me "I'll find you, you shitty whore. I'll find you and I'll kill you. You can never feel safe again."

Lara stopped and lowered her eyes. But she wasn't crying. She hadn't cried then, she wouldn't cry now as well. Especially at the presence of someone else.

Norman couldn't believe his own ears. He wasn't expecting such a tragic story.

"I... I just don't know what to say..."

"Don't say anything. Speaking won't make the pain go away."

The man opened his mouth but didn't make a sound. He bit his lip and finally agreed. "Yes, you're right. Nothing can help to forget about losing family."

She closed her eyes and breathed deeply. _You started it, you got to finish it. You said A, you got to go through the entire alphabet, 'till Z._

"After that I simply fell over. I could see everything around me: the cops shaking me, someone calling for an ambulance, someone else putting my mobile into my pocket. I lost consciousness just after one of the policemen carried me to an ambulance. I woke up a few hours later. I wasn't sure was that a dream or a reality. There was someone beside me. For a moment I thought that was mum. But when I opened my eyes fully I saw a black woman. She was about forty years old. She was stroking my head and repeating "Everything's gonna be fucking all right." That's how I met Kate, my future foster mother."

Her interlocutor seemed intrigued. "Foster mother?"

"Yeah. After I told her everything she called someone named Terry. She ordered him to visit me as soon as possible. He came at once. He was a mature-looking man with black hair and deep dark eyes. He smiled to me and asked me to tell him everything once again. I did it. Then he asked me to give him my cell phone. As he had it in his hands he raised and left. I could hear him talking with someone on the phone. Next he came in again and told me that everything would be fine now. He told me that they would listen to the phone call and find out who Mark Williams really was. A moment later he started to leave and added "Oh, I've almost forgotten to introduce myself. Agent Terence Lawson, FBI."

Now Norman choked with green tea he was drinking in this particular moment. He was coughing for several long seconds until he was able to say something.

"FBI? You mean THIS FBI?"

Lara nodded. "THIS FBI."

"Wow. That's... interesting. What was next?"

"Kate invited me for a dinner. I accepted. I had nowhere else to go. There I found out that Terry was her husband. They offered me a bed and hot water to wash myself. They did a lot for me. Finally they decided to adopt me. They had no other children because Kate was infertile. Despite this Terry loved her as hell. They were calm and happy. The last thing they needed was a child. And then I appeared."

"So that's how you knew not to touch anything after the burglary."

"You can say that."

"And what about Williams?"

"Terry told me they knew his true identity. Actually he had a few names. Mark Williams was one of them. He was a serial killer. He made women fell in love with him and marry him. Then he murdered them and took all their money. If any of them had some family, he got rid of all of them to be the only one who could inherit cash."

"Was he captured?"

Lara sighed deeply. "No. Despite everything they knew about him he's still on the loose."

"Are you afraid of him?"

She shook her head. "Not at all. I know he had promised he would kill me but it's been eight years since then. He still hasn't appeared and I doubt he'll do something that stupid. Besides, Terry taught me hand-to-hand combat and how to use a gun. If I'll have to fight with him, I'll probably win."

Norman nodded. "I'm happy to hear it. Changing the subject, this lasagna was absolutely delicious. And a nougat cake... Something splendid. You cook great Miss."

The host became red. "Thanks. That's nothing really."

_I have to change the subject somehow._

"Of course it is. The man you'd love will be blessed."

_Now I MUST change the subject. I just can't stand him saying things like these just as he's talking about the weather._

She thought for a minute. _How should I start? I'd know how to talk to a cop and he isn't one for sure... Yes, I know!_

"You're not a cop, Mr Jayden."

He knew that wasn't a question. He opened his mouth, probably to deny her words but he closed it.

"No, I'm not." he finally said, sighing and not looking into her eyes.

"So who are you then?"

He sighed again. "Agent Norman Jayden, FBI."

"_Now you've got your sensation."_

"_I knew it! I suspected it all the time!"_

"_You just shut up!"_

"What brings you here, Mr Jayden?"

"Well, if you found out I'm not a policeman, you'll crack this one too."

_He's playing with me! Damn!_

"If you're thinking so. There must be something special in Philly that needs FBI intervention. Crime in here is not so high... BUT we have someone interesting – the Origami Killer."

Norman was clearly amused.

"You should've become an FBI profiler rather than archaeologist."

She caught this sentence immediately.

"So you're an FBI profiler. They sent you here to find out the killer's identity. They hope that, as you're a profiler, you can put yourself in his skin and, investigating his Modus Operandi, discover the reason he's kidnapping young boys, find his lair and stop these murders."

Now his jaw dropped and his eyes were shining like two Suns.

_What would you say now, Mr Big Mouth?_

"Am I THAT easy to read?"

She laughed. "No. It wasn't so easy. It took me two days to figure you out, Mister."

"That's A LOT of time, Miss Croft." he responded ironically.

"You bet."

They sat like that for a while, not looking at each other, both of them deep in thoughts. The profiler broke the silence first.

"So, if we became so honest, may I ask you something?"

"Shoot."

"Is it always so rainy and chilly down there?"

Lara laughed again. "I'm afraid yeah. Philly's like that all the time."

"Shit. That sucks."

"You don't really like water, do you?"

"It's not like that. I like swimming. And bathing, of course. But rain doesn't make me happy. I feel sad all the time. Besides, all my suits – apart from the one I'm wearing now - are already covered with mud. If it goes on like this, the laundry's gonna issue higher bill than the hotel I live in."

She nodded with understanding. "In which hotel have you stayed then?"

"Empire Hotel."

Now she absolutely couldn't stop herself from laughing at the top of her voice. "And you lost your way coming here from THERE? It's so damn close!"

Norman tried to pretend offended again and said "It's not funny!" but eventually he started to laugh too.

Several minutes later they became serious again.

"If you're thinking I should be a profiler let me become one."

"What?"

"Let me help you with your investigation."

"Hell no!"

"Why?"

"It's too dangerous. If anything happened to you I'd blame myself forever."

"But-"

"There's no 'but'! I say no! End of story!"

"You're bleeding."

"What?"

"Your nose. It's bleeding."

Norman touched his nose. She was right. He WAS bleeding.

"Oh, fuck! Not now!" he yelled and slumped down to the floor.

"Mr Jayden!"

Lara immediately grabbed his hand and put him on his feet.

"I'm fine now, I'm fine now. I just... need some... a bathroom..."

"I'm taking you to the bathroom right away!"

With some difficulties but, finally, she complied with his request and left him in the bathroom alone, praying for him not to hurt himself somehow.

_Another attack? That's weird. I need to find out the truth!_

She sighed and took a look at her watch.

_10:59. Almost eleven. We've been talking for so long? Impossible!_

Five minutes later Norman slowly walked out from the bathroom. This time Lara decided not to mention any doctors.

"I'm sorry you had to see this... again. I'm really sorry."

"That's OK. Trust me – nothing happened."

Now he looked at his own watch. "Eleven? Already? Shit, I occupied your entire evening... and a big part of your night, too. I really got to go now. It was a great pleasure to spend this time with you, Miss Croft."

She smiled. "I guess that's the highest time for you to call me Lara, Mr Jayden."

"I agree. But only if you'll call me Norman."

"Deal."

They shook their hands.

"Drive safe, Norman. And don't get lost again."

Her guest smiled sweetly. "I won't. I promise. Good night, Lara. Sleep well."

"You too."

Then he left. Lara watched him getting in the car, starting the engine and joining the traffic. She waved to him for goodbye and sighed.

"_Quite satisfying beginning, don't you think?"_

"_Maybe. But he's still far away. He needs more than beauty from a woman to make him open himself."_

"_That's for sure. Never mind now. I'm dead tired. I want to have a shower and go to bed."_

"_I'm sorry to disappoint you, sweetheart, but you've got some mess to clean up. And some dishes to wash."_

"_Damn it!" _


	4. Chapter 4 The Truth

Hey guys! I'm delivering a fresh portion of FanFic. Enjoy your meal!

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Chapter 4

The Truth

4th October 2011

11:47 AM

A phone call woke up Lara and made her angry a bit.

_Damn, am I not able to even have a proper sleep? Who the hell can it be?_

At the beginning she planned not to answer. After a few seconds her mobile became silence.

_Thank God!_ she thought gratefully and put her head onto a pillow again.

She almost fell asleep when the cell started to ring again. She tried to cover her ears with a quilt but it didn't really help. Willing or not, she had to drag her corpse from her big mahogany bed and pick up.

"Who's there?" Lara asked, yawning.

"Hey, you're not looking at your phone as you're picking up?"

"Not that early in the morning."

"Early in the morning? It's almost noon, girl!"

She rolled her eyes. "Maybe, but I had quite a long evening. Who the hell is there?"

Her interlocutor snorted "Don't you recognize me? It's a me, Simon!"

_Simon? What does he want from me?_

Simon answered her unspoken question. "You called me last night. I thought that must be important."

Now she reminded herself. Yes, she phoned him indeed. She wanted to gain some information and Simon was the one who was quick, trustworthy and with almost limitless sources.

"I'm listening." he started to grow impatient.

"I need you to find everything you can about someone."

"And that is?"

Lara took a deep breath. "Norman Jayden."

She could swear he nodded. "Aye aye, Lara. I'll be grateful if you give me some details about the guy. A job maybe?"

_That won't be easy to reveal._

She sighed. "He's an FBI profiler."

"Holy crap! An FBI profiler? What the hell are you thinking, Lara? I can do a lot but I'm not a miracle-worker."

"Come on, Simon. I know this one can be a little tricky... but I DO believe in you. Please, Simon..."

He sighed heavily. "All right, I'll do what I can. But it'll take a while."

"I'm happy to hear it. Would you make it today?"

Simon thought for a while. "Yeah, I guess. Just gimme several hours. When I find something I'll call you and tell everything OK? You should have your info 'till eight."

She smiled. "That's exactly what I wanted to hear. See you!"

"See ya, girl!"

Putting her cell away Lara was thinking about Simon. He was a really talented hacker. She was absolutely sure he'll do his job properly. It wasn't the first time she was using his services. She did it every time she met someone knew. She just HAD to know everything about everyone. That was her little obsession. Normally she'd have to pay a lot of cash for the info. However she was in this advantageous situation that she helped him once before. She did it only once but it let her get Simon's help whenever she needed it.

Next she thought about Norman. _Would he find out? And what if yes? What would he do? Probably nothing particular. He rather wouldn't arrest me. But what about Simon? If he gets caught... He'll land in jail and it would be all my fault! But now it's too late, girl. You should've thought about the consequences earlier. Damn..._

She needed to talk to someone, tell everything and ask what to do. But she had no one. Jade – she didn't know anything about Simon. She was her best friend, however she couldn't find out. Same with Kate and Terry. ESPECIALLY Terry. As a retired agent he won't be happy to know that his foster daughter is asking a friendly hacker to find information about another special agent. Stella – she was her boss, not someone to tell secrets. The only one left was Norman who dropped out by itself.

In that moment her stomach rumbled. Lara laughed weakly. _I guess I should eat something. _

She slowly walked to her kitchen. It was light and modern but tiny and cramped. That's why she didn't have so many dishes; just a few plates, some knives, forks and spoons, two frying pans and a pot. There was something more of course but it was used so rarely that it was almost like there's nothing else. Despite all this Lara loved her kitchen. She loved cooking, smelling the aroma of well-done food, tasting and seasoning. It all made her joyful and calm.

This morning (or rather noon) she decided for some pancakes. She always had some batter in the fridge so she took it out along with some butter. Then she got out her special pancake frying pan and put some butter on it. She switched on her cooker and melted the fat. Next she took a spoon and stirred the batter carefully. When the butter became hot she poured three spoons of batter into the frying pan. After five minutes she tuned the pancake over and fried it for a moment more. Then she put it onto a plate prepared before and made another crepe. She inserted the frying pan into the sink and filled it with water. After that Lara put the rest of batter in the fridge, took her plate along with fork and started to eat at the kitchen table.

As she was hungry it didn't took her ages to empty the dish. She did the dishes next and finally collapsed on the sofa. Young woman decided to close her eyes and rest for a while. She laid herself comfortably...

* * *

...and when she opened her eyes again she was laying on the floor. Her entire body hurt and she was even more tired than as she woke up in the morning.

Lara got back on her feet and stretched. Then she looked at the watch in the kitchen and nearly fell over. It was showing 7:09.

_7:09? What the hell is wrong with this watch? It's impossible I've been sleeping for so-_

She stopped as she looked at her cell. It was showing 7:09 too.

_Great. Looks like I skipped the entire day. Couldn't be better. _

She decided that the best she can do now is to take a shower. So she walked across the apartment to brown door next to the colorful curtain behind which was her bedroom and opened them. There she removed her white top and panties. She looked in the mirror and saw a slim and pretty girl with quite tanned complexion. Her usually deep look of almond eyes was missing somewhere and her full lips weren't able to smile despite she wanted it so badly. Her brown-ginger hair was fallen and without gloss. She touched her left cheek and moved her fingers down her neck and chest to her waist and hips. She stopped there and sighed.

"_What's wrong with me? I'm usually full of life and energy. Now I'm feeling like all joy escaped me. What happened?"_

"_You finally met someone, Lara."_

Lara hissed. _"It's you again! Can't you just leave me alone?"_

Her mirror image smirked with superiority. _"Sorry darling but it's impossible. I am you. But smarter and more observant."_

"_What do you mean?"_

"_I'm the one who's always told you about things you have never seen. Especially about relationships."_

"_Relationships?"_

"_You're every man's dream. Sexy, brave and intelligent. You can have anyone – from a taxi driver to a president. But you've never seen this. You've always thought about yourself as someone ordinary and dull. Now we both know that's not true." _

Lara shook her head. _"No, no. You know nothing about me!"_

Alter-Lara laughed loudly. _"Of course I do. I told you: I am YOU. Now stop interrupting me and let me continue."_

There was silence for a few seconds.

"_Thanks. I must say you're very egoistic, you know? You're thinking only about you. I mean, not letting any man get closer to you... And even if you do, you're always stating that you're not looking for anyone more than a friend. You're breaking their hearts. Even his..."_

Lara raised her eyebrow in surprise. _"His?"_

Her interlocutor snorted with contempt. "_Don't tell me you don't know who am I talking about!"_

"_I haven't got a clue."_

The woman in the mirror crossed her arms on her chest. _"Well, in this case let's just say you'll crack this one..."_

Miss Croft froze. _"What does Norman have to do with it?"_ she asked herself in her thoughts.

Her companion waved to her. _"Hey! Do you know I can hear that?"_

"_How?"_

"_I'm a figment of your sick imagination. I hear everything you think or say."_

"_Really?"_

"_Really. Let us move on, shall we?"_

Lara crossed her arms and sighed._ "Okay. I'm listening." _

"_Mr Profiler's got a lot with it. He's the one who seems to melt your ice. Weird, don't you think? Considering his addictions..."_

"_What addictions?"_

"_You'll see in time..."_

Young woman clenched her fists. _"I hate you speaking with puzzles! Spill! All of it!"_

Her reflection smirked. _"MAKE me."_

These words threw Lara off her balance. She punched the mirror with all her strength. It broke with a loud sound and some splinters dropped in the wash-basin.

"Damn you!" she yelled holding her bleeding fist. Alter-Lara couldn't stop laughing her head off.

"_You stupid girl! You really thought you can hurt me?"_

"I'll get you, you little piece of-"

Then her mobile rang.

The woman in the mirror stopped laughing immediately. _"Go. Pick up. That's important, trust me."_

Lara sighed and came out the bathroom, fully naked.

"Yes?" she answered.

"It's Simon. I've got what you wanted. Quite interesting, I have to admit."

"Sorry pal, but you got to wait a minute."

"And that's because..."

She knew he won't give up. "Because I'm nude now and I don't want to catch a cold!"

It rendered him speechless.

"Hold on. I'll be back in a flash."

She threw her cell on the sofa and ran to the bathroom. She got dressed in a split second and stormed out to the living room. She caught her phone jumping on the couch.

"Hey, I'm back."

"Dressed now?"

Lara started to play with her hair. "Yeah."

"Pity I haven't seen it."

She rolled her eyes. "SIMON!"

"All right, relax. Take it easy girl."

"Sure. So, what have you found?"

"You better sit. Either way you gonna fall over. And I don't want you to hurt yourself."

The woman looked at her hand. "I guess you're a little late with this."

Simon became alarmed. "Oh God, what happened?"

"Nothing really. Continue."

"OK. So the very beginning. Norman Jayden, born 14th August 1977, Boston, MA. Parents: Mary Jayden, maiden name Colleen, born 12th April 1949 in Boston, too. She's still alive and lives in The Walking City. Father: Henry Jayden, born 27th February 1947, Boston as well. Died in 1987. No siblings.

Jayden studied crime and psychology at Harvard. He joined FBI when he was 25 and immediately became a hero. He saved his partner as they were after Nicky Jones – a serial killer. His companion got wounded and he exchanged gunfire with Nicky's mates for almost ten minutes before backup arrived. Quite impressive, don't you think?"

"Yes." Lara nodded. "What was next?"

"Nicky escaped but Norman got some medals and awards. You can say he became quite famous. Everything was fine then – at least until ARI appeared on the scene."

"ARI? What the hell is that?"

"It's a shortcut from 'Added Reality Interface'. It's a highly advanced technological device. It consists of a pair of glasses which look very similar to sunglasses and a single right-handed leather glove. When you put it on, you're able to see all clues in a crime scene. With proper gestures using the glove you can sort of manipulate the virtual world ARI creates. You can also cross every clue – DNA for example – with built-in data base and check who was there before. Besides ARI's got its personal disc to save interesting finds and record comments."

"Sounds like field agent's best friend." summarized Lara.

"And that's exactly how FBI was advertising their new toy." agreed Simon. "They developed it in July 2009. Of course, they needed some guinea pigs to test it. They chose best thirty men from entire agency to try ARI.' he paused. "Norman was one of them."

The woman sighed. "But it doesn't explain any of his attacks."

"Actually – yes, it does." protested her interlocutor. "ARI was developed as highly addictive. They wanted to keep their best agents in FBI because that time there was a massive wave of resignations and they were short with men. They knew it was very dangerous too. If anyone would overindulge in it there was a possibility he'd even die. FBI scientists reckoned with deaths – but after ten to fifteen years of using ARI, not after just two months. In September first of thirty agents died. Everyone was shocked – including Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation. He immediately ordered scientists to prepare something what would counterbalance the negative side effects of ARI usage. It took them almost a year. In that time, another nine died."

"That's unbelievable! How could they be such monsters!"

"I haven't got a clue. Besides, I think that's not what really interests you, is it?"

She had to agree. "You're right. Continue."

"Scientists prepared twenty different substances and gave everyone left one vial."

"So every vial contained something else?" ensured Lara.

"Exactly. They simply didn't know which substance is the one they were looking for. They were hoping that there's more than one effective. But after another half a year there was only a single agent still alive."

"Norman."

"You bet."

Lara closed her eyes and sighed. "I'm not sure do I REALLY want to know but I'll ask: what can you tell me about the substance Norman got?"

"They called it Triptocaine, in short Tripto. The root 'trip-' was based off of 'tryp' in Tryptophan which is an essential amino acid. The suffix was most likely based off of the medical suffix 'caine' which is used for pain killers such as Procaine. It leads to a meaning 'needed painkiller'. It killed the pain caused by using ARI. The best part is – it's an illegal drug."

"A DRUG?" she couldn't believe what she just heard.

"Yeah. A drug. It's possible to buy it on the black market but it's rare and costs a fortune. It's produced by FBI ONLY. They're still giving him Tripto every time he visits the J. Edgar Hoover Building in D.C.."

"That means Norman is..."

"An addict, yes."

"An addict... That means his attacks..."

"Were caused by the withdrawal of both ARI and Tripto. Let me tell you the symptoms: deathly paleness, bleeding nose, trembling hands, redness in the eyes' corners, aggressive behavior, hot forehead... There's plenty of this stuff."

Lara clutched her head and dug in it with her nails. "Oh my... Oh my..."

"Are you OK, Lara?"

She swallowed. "Yes, yes I'm fine. Thanks for getting this info for me."

"To be honest, it wasn't a walk in the park. Still, I owe you a lot. It was a pleasure to help you. Bye!"

"Bye..."

"_So Norman is an addict... Nothing more – just an addict! How could I be so blind!"_

"_Don't play angry. We both know it's a lie."_

She looked in the direction the voice came from. Alter-Lara was laying on her bed, still naked.

"_Can't you put something on?"_

"_What? You don't enjoy the view?" she _asked, getting up and turning around.

"_Give it up. I'm not in the mood for your games." _hissed Lara.

Her double shook her head. _"Don't be so bitter, sweetheart. It could be much worse. He could be an addict... Oh sorry, he actually IS an addict._"

"STOP SAYING THIS RIGHT NOW!" Lara jumped out and stormed in her enemy's way.

"_Or what? You'd punch me like you did before?" _Alter-Lara laughed ominously. _"Look at your right hand. You really want to hurt yourself again? Either way, you'll never hurt ME, 'cause actually I don't REALLY exist. So sit down and relax."_

Young miss Croft breathed heavily, ready to attack the other woman any time. Finally, she collapsed on the sofa again.

"_So what important you've got to tell me now?"_

"_You decided to listen to the voice of reason. I appreciate that." _the double smiled. _"You'll answer the call that may change your life forever... Don't miss it and look with your heart."_

"_Heart? What do you mean?"_

"_I mean don't reject everything. Think twice. It will never happen again..."_

"_But what?"_

The cell rang third time this day. Lara was a little pissed off but she answered.

"Who's that?"

"There's another one..."

_Talk of the devil..._

"Norman?"

"There's another victim... And I did nothing! He died like seven others!"

"What's happened?"

"I can't... I can't be like that no longer... I need... to take some... to talk some..."

"OK, where are you?"

"In the hotel... I'm... in the hotel... Lara, please... Save me..."

"I'm coming. Just stay put. I'll be right there."

She hung up and raised.

"_You've just changed you life, Lara" _her double said with satisfaction.

Lara nodded. "I hope it won't be the change for worse."


	5. Chapter 5 Jayden Blues

Hi there!

Here's another chapter of Norman and Lara's adventures! Hope you'll like it and review of course!

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Chapter 5

Jayden Blues

4th October 2011

8:17 PM

Rainwater was splashing as yellow Ducati Monster 1100 was passing lines of cars stuck in the traffic jam.

_And that's why I love my motorbike. - t_hought Lara when she finally parked in front of Empire Hotel. She jumped off her Monster, took off her crash helmet and directed her steps to the entrance.

The interior was decorated and furnished with taste. The walls were light beige with some burgundy fragments and the carpet was in dark red. It had to be very luxury accommodation. Not cheap either.

Lara came to a young man at the reception desk.

"Good evening, miss. How can I be your service?" he asked politely with big smile glued to his face.

The woman returned a smile. "Good evening. I'm looking for a man named Norman Jayden. Can you tell me the number of his room?" she asked, leaning on the desk.

"Of course but I think that wouldn't be necessary." the man answered. "He's in the hotel bar right now. Am I supposed to notify him about your arrival miss..."

She shook her head. "There's no need to inform him. By the way, how can I get to the bar?"

"Please go straight ahead and turn right at the end of the corridor. The bar is just around the corner." explained receptionist, indicating the direction with his right hand. "I can lead you there if you like."

Miss Croft smiled and shook her head again. "I guess I'll get there on my own. Either way, thank you. Have a good evening."

"Good evening as well, miss." the man nodded as she walked away from him.

_The bar... It doesn't seem pretty well. I wonder what effect will alcohol produce if mixed with Triptocaine._

The hotel bar wasn't big but elegant and warm. It was empty – the only ones left were an elderly bartender and a pianist. Norman was nowhere.

"Excuse me?" she decided to ask the bartender.

He raised his eyes and looked at her. She could see a smirk on his face as he responded. "Yes, sweetheart, what can I get you?"

"Nothing at all, I'm driving." denied Lara. "The receptionist told me that a man named Norman Jayden is there. Did he leave?"

"No, he's still there."

She looked around her. "I can't see anyone more."

The bartender snorted. "I'm sure you can hear him."

The woman raised one eyebrow. "You mean that he's the one who plays the piano?"

"Exactly."

"Thanks."

"The pleasure was all mine." he finished, looking at the girl and wiping glasses.

As Lara came closer to the pianist, she could see that it's Norman indeed. His fingers were moving with grace and the sounds that came from black and white keys were amazing. She had no right to interrupt him. She decided to simply stand and stare at him.

When he finished this piece of music he sighed and looked at the glass standing in front of him, containing some brown liquid. He simply didn't see Lara.

"My father wasn't a glazier so I haven't got the faintest idea why you can't see me." she laughed.

Now the man raised his eyes and met hers, full of joy and happiness.

"Oh, Lara, I just... I haven't seen you... I'm so sorry..." he started to explain himself.

"It's fine, really. Relax. May I have a seat next to you?" she asked shyly.

"Of course." Norman moved a little to the left and prepared a place for Lara.

"How do you feel? You seemed quite depressed on the phone." the woman asked, sitting.

"I'm better now, thanks. Sorry for calling you. I just..." he lowered his eyes and sighed. "I could take it no more. The boy died and I did nothing!" he banged his fist on the instrument. "Now another has been kidnapped! Besides everyone's treating me like a child. Especially Blake, who became my partner."

Lara couldn't believe what she just heard. "Blake is your PARTNER?"

"Well, a partner is a big word. He's rather a scumbag who likes beating up people and disturbing others in the real work." Norman said at the top of his voice.

"Lt. Blake is quite hard to handle." the girl agreed, nodding. "Can't you just ignore him and do your job without him?"

Jayden shook his head. "No. Captain Perry said we're supposed to work together. He says Blake's a good cop."

She snorted. "He's saying that line every time lieutenant threatens someone, hits someone or shoots someone. That means he says it quite often."

Norman became curious. "Blake actually SHOT someone?"

"A few years ago. An innocent boy. He survived but trauma remained for the entire life."

It shocked the young agent. "And he's STILL a cop?"

"He's sort of under Perry's protection. There were some who wanted to get rid of him but they were fired immediately." she responded.

Jayden closed his eyes. "In that case I guess I won't go far with Blake's help."

"You bet."

The man sighed and opened his eyes. He grabbed the glass and looked at its content for a while. Then he took a draft of the liquid and put the glass back on the piano.

"You know, Norman, alcohol doesn't solve problems. It makes them even bigger." Lara said, looking at the empty glass.

"For now, I'm not looking for a solution. I just want to forget." he answered with a whimpering voice.

The woman put her hand on agent's shoulder. "You shouldn't forget, Norman. Not this way and not now. You have to save the kid. By the way, who's he?"

"Shaun Mars. His father reported his missing tonight. There was something weird in him... like he was hiding something... I don't know what but I'll find out!"

Lara patted Norman's back. "And that's how the FBI profiler should behave."

The man looked in her eyes and the entire world stopped. It was remarkable experience. Even for Lara who has seen a lot of different phenomenons during her archaeological career.

She smiled and looked at the instrument. "I didn't know you play the piano."

Norman followed her gaze and returned a smile. "You didn't ask."

"So I'll ask now. How did it start?"

"When I was around six, my mother took me to a music shop. That was the very first time I saw the piano. Mum was talking with a shopkeeper and I sat by it and simply started to hit the keys. The owner was amazed with my skills. He asked my mother where did I learn to play. She answered that she's got no idea. Since then I started to take lessons. I finished with them when I went to college."

"Would you tell me how could you play so damn good?" she asked.

"I would... if I knew it." the man answered sincerely, scratching himself in the head. "Honestly, I don't know how I did it... but I just did it. I guess it was sort of an inborn talent."

Lara laughed and nudged him. "You lucky bastard! I always wanted to play the piano but I don't have predispositions to it. I always played out of tune."

Norman giggled and thought for a minute. "No wonder you became an archaeologist. Your fingers weren't created to make beautiful tunes. They were created to dig!" he shouted, taking the woman's hands in his own.

"Go to hell!" Lara responded, giggling and pulling her hands out of Norman's.

"As you wish." she heard and saw the man rising.

"Hey, I was just kidding. Stay." the woman grabbed his hand, serious.

"No!" he yelled with anger in the eyes.

_On no... Another one... Hell..._

She got up and wiped his nose.

_Blood. Perfect. Just perfect._

"What are you doing?" Norman asked and stepped back. He touched his nose by himself.

"God, so often? Impossible. I need to..." he rummaged his pockets and eventually stormed out the bar, leaving Lara alone.

_No, he shouldn't take this shit! I need to stop him!_

She followed him to the exit but on the corridor she stopped. She had no idea where did he go.

_Great!_

She rested against the wall and breathed heavily. She felt like she had enough.

"_Screw this! I'm leaving right now!"_

"_Listen to yourself, Lara. How childish you sound."_

The woman had no strength to open her eyes. Anyway, she knew who's there.

"_Be patient, Lara. Don't give up. Act like you do always." _Alter-Lara was calm and determined.

"_And that is.." _Lara opened her eyes and asked.

Her double smirked. _"Be yourself. Don't let emotions take the better of you. You never resign from excavations, even if everyone's telling you it's a waste of time. Same here."_

The real woman shook her head. _"This is something different. Much different. I'm not going to babysit him and pay attention to not let him overdose." _She snorted. _"That's ridiculous!"_

"_Do you believe he can quit?"_

This question surprised Lara and made her drop her jaw. _"Sorry?"_

Alter-Lara rolled her big, brown eyes with pity. _"I didn't know you're so deaf."_

"_And I didn't know you're able to wear some clothes." _she gave tit for tat with a huge smirk on her face.

Her fetch gave a nod of approval. _"Nice. I guess I should visit you more often. For your information, I like looking fashionable so sometimes I wear some clothes. Let's go back to the topic." _she made a pause._ "Do you believe that Norman can quit his addictions?"_

Lara thought for a moment. _"Everything is possible. I cannot exclude the possibility that he'll quit. He might just as well plunge himself into ARI and Tripto and die."_

The specter mused. _"Die... This is so irreversible. Do you want him dead?"_

"_No! Of course not! How can you ask such a stupid question?" _the woman became furious.

"_How? To make you THINK! You became so lazy recently."_

It didn't help Lara to calm down. _"ME? LAZY? I'm the one who works and does everything. It's YOU who only appears and talks shit!"_

Alter-Lara raised her hands in a gesture of surrender. _"Take it easy, girl. I'm just teasing you. Now tell me this: what could help Norman quit?"_

She sighed. "_I don't know. A therapy? Yeah, a therapy for sure."_

"_What else?"_

"_Maybe leaving FBI. He'll use ARI no more and he won't get more Triptocaine."_

"_Is he able to do it by himself?"_

The woman raised her eyebrows. _"What do you mean by this? A group therapy?"_

Her interlocutor shook her head. _"No! I mean, this could be effective too. I was thinking about someone who'd support him, comfort him and help going through all this stuff: the withdrawal symptoms and the pain that comes with it. And pull him out of the depression after handing in his notice."_

Lara raised her eyes and started to think. _"I doubt he'll get through it on his own. He either won't quit or eventually commit a suicide by overdosing or in any other twisted way."_

"_In your opinion, who should be this person?"_

Now she understood what was her double up to. _"You're talking about me?" _She snorted. _"I don't think that's a good idea. Find someone else."_

Alter-Lara turned around and looked all over the hall. In the end she spoke. _" Do you see anyone else down there? If yes, congratulations, because I can see no one except you."_

The woman shook her head with disbelief. _"You can't make me believe that I'm the only one on this goddamn planet who can actually help Norman quit his addictions!"_

"_If you're such a smart-ass, tell me, who else can it be?"_

"_I haven't got a clue. His mother-"_

"_She's too old. When she dies, he stays without anyone."_

"_Maybe some friends from work or somewhere-"_

"_Colleagues are out of the question. He should leave FBI. Besides, he's got no friends. Trust me, I know it."_

Lara scratched herself. _"Perhaps I should tell Blake-"_

The double could take no more. _"ARE YOU OUT OF YOUR MIND?" _she went off for her. _"Tell Blake! Of course! Why I didn't have such a brilliant idea before? Sure, tell Blake. You don't risk anything. Well, except Blake reporting about Norman to Perry who will remove him off the case. Norman will lose his job because he's not able to keep his dirty secret inside the agency and land in coma because of it. Then he'll overdose Tripto and die! Everything because of you! And if you add a possibility that Norman finds up who set him up so well... You'll be fucked up. And I won't help you this time."_

Miss Croft was rendered speechless. Alter-Lara was breathing heavily, fists clenched. Eventually Lara was able to admit her error. _"You're right. That's the worst option."_

"_Glad you're thinking so." _the specter calmed down. _"Next time think twice before you're saying something idiotic, okay? You're just driving me nuts, girl!"_

The woman sighed. _"So what am I supposed to do?"_

"_You don't remember how he said you should be a profiler? Stick to these words and help Norman solve the case. Impress him with your courage and find the Origami Killer!"_

"_But how am I supposed to do this? There are over one and half a million people here in Philly! Anyone can be the killer!"_

"_The killer is closer than you think, Lara. Just use your brain and it'll become obvious. Now be lenient for Norman, will you?"_

After these words Alter-Lara disappeared, leaving Lara alone. But not for long.

"I'm sorry for my sudden leaving but I... I had to... deal with something. Accept my apologies." said Norman calmly. He wasn't so pale anymore.

The woman smiled forbearingly. "That's okay Norman. Don't worry."

Jayden shook his head. "No. That's not okay. I'm acting like an idiot. And I'm sorry for that, too."

"Please, don't be."

"But I just-" he wasn't able to finish as Lara covered his mouth with her hand, smiling like an angel.

"Can't you just shut up, Norman?" she asked with fire in the eyes.

"No." the man responded soundlessly, shaking his head even more energetically.

"Oh God." the woman sighed. "I see that I'm not able to stop you from talking." and she uncovered his lips.

"Thanks for letting me say something." said Norman harshly.

"The pleasure was all mine." he heard in reply.

"You've got quite a sharp tongue, Lara."

"Was that a compliment?"

Young profiler thought for a minute. "I guess it was. I like people who I can talk with. And I feel that I could argue with you for hours. You're intriguing me, miss Croft."

"I don't remember when we returned to calling ourselves by surname, Mr Jayden." Lara said with a smirk.

"Me neither. I just thought this form would be more adequate to what I'm going to do in a moment."

She was more and more impatient. "And that is?"

Norman looked directly into her eyes. "I'd like to invite you for a dinner to the café you mentioned before. What was its name? SuperScarf?"

The woman giggled. "SuperStar. I agree. When?"

"Tomorrow. Half past seven maybe?"

"Fine for me."

"I'm glad you accepted my invitation." he looked into her eyes again.

"Me too. Now I'm afraid I got to go, Norman. Don't come back to the bar. Just rest."

Norman nodded. "That's exactly what I'm going to do this evening. Good night, Lara."

"Good night, Norman." Lara replied, walking out the hotel. By the door she turned around and waved to the man. Then she left.

_God, I'm craving for a shower. - s_he thought as she started the engine and dashed into the darkness.


	6. Chapter 6 The Look

Hi there!

There's a new chapter of my FanFic. I took me some days to finish it because I've been VERY busy this week. Next week I'll be finally after tests so I guess I'll upload faster.

Enjoy!

* * *

Chapter 6

The Look

5th October 2011

7:23 AM

"_That's not good enough, Lara! Put on something else!"_

Miss Croft was at the very end of her tether. Her nightmare was sitting on her bed and grumbling about all her rags for almost an hour. She eventually lost her entire patience.

"_Mercy! Just tell me what's wrong with these?" _she asked, turning around.

Alter-Lara snorted. _"THESE? You mean the old jeans, faded black T-shirt and worn out denim jacket? In my opinion, that's quite obvious."_

The woman crossed her arms on her chest._ "Enlighten me."_

Her double sighed. "_I can't help if you're too blind to see this at first glance. All I can say is that these clothes aren't suitable for a date."_

Lara rolled her big hazel eyes. _"Hello! Is anybody down there? I told you that's not a date. It's just a... a meeting."_

"_And I thought that a meeting between a man and a woman is called a date! What a silly me!"_

Young archaeologist raised her eyes to heaven. _"God, I've got no strength or time to argue with you! I only need your advice, that's all. Be useful JUST for once, I beg you!"_

The specter bit her lower lip and eventually spoke. _"Blue sweater, beige trousers and high boots. He'll be delighted."_

"_Thanks for help."_ Lara finished and changed her clothes. Then she turned around and looked in the mirror. In the looking glass she saw quite pretty girl in quite suitable clothes. In the background, her double was smirking.

"_Now THAT'S how a woman dresses up for a date... I mean, the meeting."_

Miss Croft simply shook her head and paced in the direction of the coat hook. As soon as she stopped right in front of it, the entryphone rang.

"Yes?" she said picking up.

"Hey, it's Norman."

"Don't say anything more. I'm coming." the woman hung up and put on her elegant navy coat, chosen especially for this evening.

When she came out of the building, she saw Norman beside a yellow taxi, relaxed and smiling.

"You're looking absolutely dazzlingly. Navy-blue really suits you. It accentuates your complexion and adds a sparkle of life into your eyes."

Lara Croft has never ever before in her entire life heard so many compliments in just a few seconds, so, naturally, she blushed intensively. Of course, it had to draw FBI profiler's attention.

"Don't flush, Lara." he said, covering her with his arm. "Everything I said is a pure truth. I'm not lying, especially when a woman's appearance is at stake." he continued, leading her to the car and opening the door ahead of her.

"Thanks." she mumbled and immediately hid in the automobile. Norman got in right after her.

"SuperStar café." he said to a driver, who nodded in assent and engaged first gear.

There was an awkward silence between them for a few minutes. Eventually, it was Lara who decided to break it first.

"Why did you take a taxi? You've got your own car after all."

"First, it's not really mine. I rented it some days ago. Second, I thought we can drink something stronger because on Monday I wasn't able to do so." This reply astonished the woman. She saw Norman over a glass yesterday but he had to be quite brave to tell her something like this looking into her eyes. "And third – I love taking a taxi and looking at the city during the trip. When I drive, I have to pay attention to the traffic and I'm not able to simply do sightseeing and admire the views." here he looked pointedly at young archaeologist, who pretended that she didn't catch that.

"I see now." she nodded. "Look, here we are!"

The car stopped right in front of a big and crowded building. They got out and Norman paid the driver, saying "Keep the change." Then he looked at the café and sighed. "How the hell are we gonna find a place in here?"

Lara smirked. "There's always a way, Norman. Come with me."

The young man followed her inside. It looked even worse than from the outside. People were EVERYWHERE: at the tables, on the floor, almost near the ceiling. Nevertheless, she was absolutely certain they won't have to find another place to eat.

Somehow they both made their way through a dense throng and reached the bar. There Lara whispered something to a ginger-haired woman who quickly disappeared. Instead of her, a short and plump girl with joyful blue eyes and short blond hair appeared.

"Lara! So good to see you!" the women snuggled up to each other. "I haven't seen you for ages!"

"Yeah, I was quite busy recently, Jess." Lara said, scratching herself.

Now Jess looked Norman up and down. "Well, well, well... I see you're coming with a company. Who's he?"

"Norman Jayden, nice to meet you, miss." he introduced himself and extended his hand.

The pale woman shook it. "Nice to meet you too, Norman. Can I call you like that? Okay. You can call me Jess."

"Sorry to interrupt you but I need to ask you something, Jess." said Lara quietly.

The other woman looked at her. "Go on."

"We need a table for two, to the extent possible, upstairs."

"Not a pro, Lara. Follow me." Jess answered with a smile and started to elbow her way through the crowd to the stairs.

When they were finally up, she came to some guests sitting around one of the tables and started talking with him. A few minutes later they left.

"Here you go: a table for two, overlooking the first floor." Jess announced, showing the furnitures with her hand. "I just take redundant armchairs and you can sit down."

"Jess, we can handle it. Really. Get back to work now." Lara denied.

"Okay. I'll bring you menus." she agreed and disappeared downstairs.

Meanwhile Norman got rid of all furnitures, except two chairs and a table.

"Sit down, Lara." he smiled invitingly.

She did as he said. When they were both sitting comfortably, the man asked. "You know everyone in Philadelphia?"

Lara laughed and shook her head. "No, but I met some people and now they do me favors occasionally."

"You must be lucky."

"It looks like it."

In this moment Jess arrived with two menus. "Hey, here we are. Would you like any aperitif?"

"I'd like whiskey on the rocks." said Norman. "And you, Lara?"

"Same."

"All right, I'll send someone down there in a flash." Jess nodded, writing something in a notebook. "Have a good evening. Both of you." she wished them and disappeared again.

Young profiler thought for a while. "Quite interesting person, this Jess... How did you meet?"

"It's a long story."

"We've got a lot of time." reminded Jayden.

Lara sighed. "When I arrived here eight years ago, SuperStar wasn't so super. It was a small coffee shop owned by Jess' twin brother, Alec. He was deeply in debt. So deeply he was close to sell the bar. But Jess didn't agree. She wanted him to give her half a year and let her run this business. Alec agreed. In these six months it became the most popular meeting place in entire Philly. I don't know how but she succeeded. Eventually Alec gave her SuperStar café as a birthday gift. She accepted, of course. And now look around – she earned a fortune."

"That doesn't exactly explain how you two met." pointed out Norman.

"I studied with Alec. He's an archaeologist too. One day he invited me for dinner to his sister's. Alec introduced me to a pale, short blonde, saying "Here's the woman who saved this place from ruin. Lara, meet Jessica, my sister." She said to call her Jess." The woman raised her eyes and thought for a while. "It was about four years ago. Since then we're friends."

"Hmm, interesting." the agent declared.

"Here you are." The waitress appeared from nowhere and put two glasses on the table. "Do you know what would you like to order already?"

Miss Croft blushed. "No, not yet."

"All right, I'll be back in a few minutes." she said to them and left.

"I guess we should do the talking later and choose something before this harpy comes back." he said.

Lara was surprised. "Harpy?"

Jayden rose his eyes and looked at her. "Don't tell me you haven't seen the way she was looking at you."

She shook her head. "No, I'm afraid I haven't. What was so unusual in it?"

Norman straightened. "She's jealous. That's quite obvious."

The woman raised her eyebrow. "Jealous? But why?"

He smirked. "You've got a mirror in your apartment, do you?"

Lara thought about the cracked looking glass in the bathroom. "Yeah, why you're asking?"

"Because you should look in it more often."

That wasn't the answer she expected. Actually, she didn't expect THAT sort of question.

"And that's because..."

"You seem to ignore all your merits. You seem to not care that you're very beautiful, highly intelligent and that you are seen as an irresistible temptation for most of the men in here."

"Including you?" she asked provocatively, squinting her eyes.

Norman opened his mouth and wanted to say something but he closed it immediately. Then he put his gaze onto the crowd downstairs, visibly embarrassed.

"I don't often get mixed up with women. That doesn't mean I don't like them, I just... can't deal with them."

"That doesn't exactly answer my question." Lara quoted Jayden's reply.

Now he looked into her eyes and didn't let her out of his sight. "I'm not looking at you in this way, Lara. Of course, I'm able to see the phenomenon right in front of me and admire it but..." he shook his head. "You deserve much better. Even if I'd like to gain your love I won't do it. You know nearly nothing about me. At first sight I might seem a normal man. But that's not true. I've got my secrets, Lara... and it would be better for you if I won't reveal them. They can be dangerous for you. Very dangerous." he stopped and took a breath. "Now, please, let's change the topic."

Miss Croft lowered her head with sorrow. "So why have you invited me for a dinner?"

Now the agent looked at her again. "I just thought that I should do something in return – for coming to see me and tolerating my foolish behavior." he made a pause. "And for cooking a brilliant dinner on Monday." Now he noticed that his interlocutor became sad. He stood up, came to young archaeologist, crouched beside her and lifted her chin with two of his right palm's fingers.

"Don't be sad, Lara. I'm just a random stranger to you, no one important. You shouldn't be sad because of me."

Now she looked into his eyes. She was able to see a flash of grief in them. Then she put her gaze onto his lips – he had an angelic smile on them. She simply HAD to return it.

They remained like this for next several seconds. Eventually Norman realized the proximity of their faces. He cleared his throat and sat back on the armchair.

"So what can you suggest me, Lara?" he asked unexpectedly. "I'm starving."

She thought for a moment, looking in the menu. "They've got amazing pizza and pasta. That's all I know. But if you want something more eccentric-"

"These sound fine to me. I like Italian cookery." Jayden interrupted her.

"Okay... I think I'll take Spaghetti Carbonara. I've eaten it many times before and it's delicious" Lara declared some time later.

"Me too. I trust your opinion."

A moment later 'harpy' appeared.

"May I take your order now?" she asked, staring at Norman, smile glued to her face.

"Two Carbonaras, please. And a bottle of cool Perrier mineral water, 100cl." the agent said, watching Lara all this time and making her blush again.

The waitress wrote the order down on a piece of paper. "Sure, I've got it. Do you wish anything more, sir?"

"No, thanks. That's all." he was STILL looking at young archaeologist with amusement.

Finally 'harpy' left them alone. Norman was staring at Lara all the time. She could take no more.

She had to do something.

"How did you know I'd like some Perrier?" this unintended question escaped her mouth and she could do nothing about it.

"I was watching you. Your gaze stopped in the lower part of the page with drinks. That's where Perrier water is."

"But there are more waters than Perrier."

Jayden tipped his head and smiled. "To be perfectly honest, I was guessing about Perrier. I simply thought that this one suits you."

"You must be a very good profiler, Norman." Lara stated.

"One of the bests, I have to admit." he confirmed her words.

She nodded and crossed her legs. "Anyway, how have you started in this? I mean, you're a very talented pianist. You could've perform in front of people all over the world. But you decided to protect the law. I wonder what were your motivations."

Norman sighed and took a sip of whiskey. Then he started his story. "My father was a cop in Boston. That's where I was born and lived for almost one fourth of the century. I always idealized him as a child – in my eyes he was a brave man who catches thieves and burglars. I always wanted to be just like him. And I guess I would – if all this wouldn't happen."

Lara bit her lip. "You know that if there's anyone who will understand if you don't want to talk about it, it's me."

He closed his eyes, glass in his hands. "It's nothing dramatic – not as much as your parents' death."

The archaeologist breathed the air out. "So your father died?"

"He was shot by a thug in broad daylight in a shop near our house. He wasn't on duty." Now Jayden's palms were shaking, whiskey nearly spilt out the glass.

_God, not another one!_

It wasn't caused by ARI or Tripto, thought - only by traumatic memories. She was the one who was able to understand it utterly. However, she said nothing. She knew that sometimes the silence can say more than a thousand words.

"All right, no more tears. We're not here to reminisce my childhood." Norman got over and was smiling again. "Let's talk about-" the rest of this sentence wasn't available to be heard because from all loudspeakers came some loud electro tunes which deafened profiler's words.

Jayden sighed. "Shit. They don't have anything more subtle?"

Lara looked at the mike standing near the bar downstairs. "You can always go and talk to Jess. I'm sure she'll let you sing something. She loves karaoke."

He raised his eyebrows. "SING? You mean that I can't ask her to put on something else?"

She shook her head, reaching for her glass. "Nope. Jess is crazy about Electro. She does exceptions only for karaoke."

Norman thought for a while. "That means I have to sing something. It's quite fortunate because I have no other gift for you tonight."

"A gift? You don't have to prepare anything for me."

"That's good 'cause actually I haven't prepared this one." the agent declared with a smirk. "I'll be right back." he raised and started to walk away.

"Norman!" Lara yelled. That made him turn around and look at her.

"Yes?"

"What the hell are you doing?"

He smiled broadly. "You'll see."

Then he disappeared in the crowd.

Miss Croft sighed and took a sip of the alcohol from the glass in her hand. She could feel it burning in her throat. She enjoyed it.

"_Just don't become an alcoholic, okay? I'd hate to know you in that case."_

The archaeologist squinted her eyes and looked at Alter-Lara with pity. _"Relax. I won't become addicted to it."_

Her double leaned over the railing and sighed, watching people downstairs. _"That's exactly the line Norman kept telling to him. It didn't really help, as you know."_

"_Leave me alone. I'm not in the mood."_

"_Of course. You're never in the mood for being teased." _she made a pause there._ "But for listening serenades – always, right?"_

Lara was surprised. _"Serenades? What are you talking about?"_

Alter-Lara turned to her and smirked. _"You'll see or rather hear in..." _she looked at her watch. _"less than a minute."_

"_But what?" _Miss Croft started to lose her patience.

She had no chance to get a reply because her double was already gone. She sighed and put her gaze onto two persons speaking near the mike. A moment later she realized who are they: Norman and Jess.

The blond woman came to the microphone and announced. "Hey everyone! I hope you're having a great time in here! Now I'm going to make it even better. We start our KARAOKE EVENING!" she shouted.

Her words aroused enthusiasm among the crowd in the café.

Jess continued. "Our first performer is Norman. Tell us what you gonna sing?"

_NORMAN? But why, how, when..._

"I'll sing a song named 'The Look' by Roxette." It was HIS voice. He was staying in front of the mike and smiling.

"Would you like to dedicate it to anybody?" Jess bored the hole.

_You're dead, sis!_

"Yes, I would. I'd like to dedicate it to someone who matches the song perfectly: a brave, independent woman who's been through the mill but who's not broken down. I think more details are unnecessary."

_Girl, he's talking about YOU! Unbelievable, isn't it?_

"All right, so here we go!" Jess finished and left the podium. It was only Norman on the stage.

The music started to play. Lara loved these tones. Her friend swung to the rhythm and finally started singing.

"Walking like a man,  
Hitting like a hammer,  
She's a juvenile scam,  
Never was a quitter,  
Tasty like a raindrop She's got the look"

_God, he's a musician through and through. He shouldn't rot in FBI which is deceiving him. He should travel all over the world and perform polonaises, waltzes and mazurkas. He'd earn a fortune. I doubt that the Feds pay him appropriately, despite all his skills._

"Heavenly bound,  
'Cause heaven's got a number  
When she's spinning me around  
Kissing is a color  
Her loving is a wild dog  
She's got the look

She's got the look, She's got the look  
What in the world can make a brown-eyed girl turn blue,  
When everything I'll ever do I'll do for you,  
And I go la la la la la

She's got the look"

Lara was delighted. She never suspected Norman as someone who can actually sing. And he did it DAMN well.

"Fire in the eyes,  
Naked to the T-bone,  
Is a lover's disguise,  
Banging on the head drum,  
Shaking like a mad bull,  
She's got the look,

Swaying to the band,  
Moving like a hammer,  
She's a miracle man,  
Loving is the ocean,  
Kissing is the wet sand, She's got the look,

She's got the look , She's got the look ,  
What in the world can make a brown-eyed girl turn blue,  
When everything I'll ever do I'll do for you,  
And I go la la la la la, She's got the look"

Now Norman's moves could be with full rights called dancing. He closed his eyes and shook his head, stamping and stepping aside, backward or forward. Everyone was looking at him – especially the young archaeologist.

A few seconds later he lifted his eyelids and put his gaze on her. He didn't smile but his facial expression was the sweetest Lara has ever seen. His eyes were sparkling with something different... Something that she couldn't recognize. It seemed like his entire body did only one thing in that moment – it stared at miss Croft without apparent reasons.

"Walking like a man,  
Hitting like a hammer,  
She's a juvenile scam,  
Never was a quitter,  
Tasty like a raindrop, She's got the look,

And she goes

na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na  
na na na na na, She's got the look,

She's got the look, She's got the look,  
What in the world can make a brown-eyed girl turn blue,  
When everything I'll ever do I'll do for you,  
And I go la la la la la, She's got the look,

What in the world can make you so blue,  
When everything I'll ever do I'll do for you, And I go la la la la la... "

Now Jayden finally lowered his eyes. So far he kept his gaze on Lara. The entire café cheered. People clasped their hand, some were shouting, some were whistling. Only miss Croft was calm and quiet. That wasn't because she didn't like the performance. Quite the opposite, she loved it. But it impressed her so much that she wasn't able to make a sound or even change her face. And it wasn't proper. Big eyes, jaw dropped – she was looking nuts for sure.

Norman had to notice it because he bit his lower lip and left the stage in a flash. She could see him storming to the restrooms. There he was out of her sight.

"_Oh, girl, what have you done?" _Alter-Lara clutched her head with both hands. _"Can you imagine how this poor thing must be feeling now?"_

Lara turned to her. _"No, I can't. But I'm sure you'll tell me."_

"_You're right." _her double nodded. _"He opened himself to you, singing such a personal song. And your reaction threw him off his balance. You really screwed this up."_

The woman sighed. _"Yeah, I know. I'll apologize to him as soon as he comes here."_

"_And how can you know he will?" _the specter asked with amusement, smile on her face.

It worried the young archaeologist. _"You mean he'll left without saying goodbye?"_

Alter-Lara giggled, covering her mouth with her hand. _"No, he won't. I give you my word."_

"_Thanks for teasing me again." L_ara hissed.

"_You're welcome."_

After these words her double disappeared. She knew why. She turned around and came face to face with Norman. He was calm again, just as at the stage. But his eyes were sparkling no longer.

"I'm really sorry, Norman. My reaction was-"

He raised his hand. "It's me who's sorry. I shouldn't have started all this karaoke stuff. I'm terribly sorry for putting you in position like this. I made the wrong decision."

The woman shook her head. "No, of course you made the right decision. I mean, it was the sweetest thing ever done for me. I thank you for that." she said, touching Jayden's palm with her own. He didn't push it aside.

They remained like this for a few seconds, smiling softly to each other.

"I'm sorry to interrupt you but I've got your order." The harpy had a good timing. They both cleared their throats and took a sit. A minute later they were putting their forks in pasta on the plates, sank into conversation.

"So how's your investigation, Norman?" Lara began a new topic.

Her interlocutor bit his lips and sighed. "I'm not sure should I reveal details of our work."

"I don't want details. I just want to know have you found something interesting."

He shook his head. "No, we haven't. Blake and I have questioned two suspects today. None of them matches the psychological profile of the killer. We've got nothing new." now he smirked. "Except the memory of lieutenant who's been frightened by a religious guy aiming at him with a gun."

The woman choked and began to cough. The man was watching her carefully, ready to raise and help her anytime.

"Someone aimed at Blake?" finally she managed to say something. "Is he still alive?"

"Blake? Sure, I dissuaded the suspect from shooting lieutenant's ass."

"I'm not asking about Blake! He can go to hell! I meant the assailant."

"You think I'd let Carter beat the shit out of Nathaniel?" Norman asked with curiosity.

"No... Of course not." Lara denied. "I wasn't suggesting anything..."

She saw the profiler giggling. "Relax, Lara. I was just joking."

"Sure." she joined him and laughed weakly. "Is that all?"

Jayden nodded. "Yes. In the evening Blake found another suspect, though. He's sure that's the Origami Killer."

Now archaeologist's jaw dropped. "And you said that nothing interesting has happened today! This is VERY interesting in my opinion!"

The man shook his head. "You won't think so if you'd know the name of the suspect."

She crossed her arms. "Enlighten me."

"Ethan Mars."

The fork dropped out of Lara's hand and landed on the floor with a loud jangle. Luckily, she's just finished eating.

"Ethan Mars? THIS Ethan Mars?"

"THIS Ethan Mars." confirmed Jayden.

"Blake's out of his mind? His kid's been kidnapped too! How was he able to do the same with his own son? And why would he do it?" she broke off.

"I don't know. And that's why I believe that Mars is innocent. He simply doesn't match the profile." explained Norman. "There were some weird circumstances when Shaun disappeared but it can't be a proof."

"What circumstances?" the woman asked.

"Ethan couldn't remember what was he doing during his son's disappearance. I guess he's got some blackouts because of the trauma caused by his first kid's death. But Blake's sticking to it like a fly to shit."

She raised her eyebrows. "Ethan had another child?"

Norman nodded. "Yes. His name was Jason. One day he was knocked out by a car. Ethan flung himself to protect the kid but it was too late. Then Mars landed in a coma for almost a year. When he woke up, his wife left him, taking his other son along."

"You mean Shaun?"

"You bet" he replied, taking a sip of water.

Lara sat calmly for a while, drinking too. She was thinking.

"What you gonna do tomorrow?" she asked in the end.

"I found someone related to the Origami Killer's car. I'd like to talk with him." the man replied.

"You've found the killer's car?"

"It's visible on the record from the park that afternoon. The time of the car riding there matches the time Shaun's disappeared." he explained. "Besides, it corresponds to the tire prints I've found at the crime scene yesterday."

"Okay. What's the car?" Lara asked again, curious.

"Blue Chevrolet Malibu '83. Stolen six years ago. Not found – at least so far."

"And the person you're after?"

"Jackson Neville, aka Mad Jack. He was suspected of stealing this car but the charges were dropped." replied Norman.

"Mad Jack? I know him. He repaired my motorbike once." Lara declared. "I've heard about his involvement in buying and selling stolen vehicles but he's good at what he's doing. Besides, he's not expensive."

"I'm glad he seems to have a nice side." Jayden smiled.

The woman nodded. "Yes, he does. But I have to warn you that he hates cops."

"I'm not a cop!" the man denied.

"You're from the FBI. It's even worse for Jack."

"Don't worry. I'll deal with him."

Miss Croft plunged herself into thoughts again. Norman interrupted her.

"Would you like any dessert?"

She shook her head, smiling. "No, thanks. I'm full. I won't be eating for a long time. By the way, what time is that?"

The agent looked at his watch. "It's almost ten."

"Ten?" Lara asked. Jayden nodded. "No wonder I'm a bit sleepy."

"I suggest we finish our meeting then." the man said a minute later.

The young archaeologist agreed and started to rise. "Fine. Let's go."

The profiler followed her downstairs and to the exit. Outside, they caught a taxi and drove to Lara's. They haven't spoken a word.

When they finally arrived, the woman got out first. Jayden was right behind her.

"Thanks for the wonderful evening, Norman." she started.

"The pleasure was all mine." she heard in reply.

They were standing like there and staring at each other until Lara said "I gotta go now."

"Okay. Goodnight, Lara. Sleep well."

"You too, Norman. See you soon."

_You haven't got the faintest idea how soon!_

She opened the door of the building and suddenly stopped, reminding herself about something. She turned around and ran to her friend.

"Norman! We've forgotten to pay the bill!"

He opened his mouth and immediately closed it. "You're right. I'll get to SuperStar and do it right away."

The woman sighed. "All right. Thanks. Say sorry to Jess from me."

"I will for sure. Bye."

They shook their hands and the man started to walk away when miss Croft caught his palm. He turned to her.

"Yes?"

Lara smiled but said nothing. She moved closer to Norman and placed a gentle and sweet kiss on his scar. Then she smiled again, turned around and left the FBI profiler with his jaw dropped from astonishment.


	7. Chapter 7 Mad Jack

Hey guys!

Here's the 7th chapter of my FanFic. I do know It took me A LOT to finish it but it's there - finally.

Reviews are more than welcome!

* * *

Chapter 7

Mad Jack

6th October 2011

2:03 PM

"_Can you explain me again why the hell are we getting soaked down there?" _

Lara sighed and turned her head in her double's direction. _"I'm here to help Norman. It was your choice to come here together with me."_

"_Sorry, darling, but I'm everywhere you are. It wasn't MY choice."_

Alter-Lara was more peevish than usual. She liked the rain – as long as she didn't have to feel it on her skin. She was mad at her original because of the situation she's put the specter in.

The woman sighed again and looked at the junkyard with hope. _"If we're lucky, Norman would arrive here in an instant. Then I'll just make sure he doesn't get smashed by Mad Jack and come back home to dry myself."_

Her companion snorted. _"YOU? I'm coming with you, sis. You won't get rid of me so easily."_

Now the young archaeologist walked slowly to her fetch and grabbed her arm. She had spiteful glimmers in her eyes as she hissed. _"Listen, you little viper. I didn't ask you to come down there. It was YOUR choice. And yes, I think I'll get rid of you easily. This is my business and I wish to do it on my own without a nasty double watching my back. Now get out of here!" _she finished, pushing her interlocutor on the ground and breathing heavily.

Alter-Lara started to laugh hysterically, trying to get back on her feet. _"It seems that agent Jaden has got a bad influence on you. You became more aggressive." _she stood up and shook off mud from her trousers. _"But fine. If you don't want any help, I'll leave you. I trust you won't kill yourself during several hours without my protection."_

"_Of course I won't." _Lara crossed her arms. _"Besides, if anything goes wrong, I've got Norman."_

The specter shook her head with an evil grin on her lips. _"Don't be so sure. Maybe it's you who'd need to rescue Mister Profiler." _After these words she melted in the raindrops.

Lara sighed with relief as she wasn't able to see any signs of her double's present. Then she sat on her Ducati and simply waited. Meanwhile she was thinking about agent Jayden. She had no idea what particular has caused that she's now soaking in the goddamn rain just to make sure that a man, generally strange to her, gets safe and sound out of the scrapyard. She sighed again and hid her face into her hands.

_What the heck is happening with me?_

After a few seconds she was sure she won't get the answer. This time she had to find it out on her own.

_Okay, let's think. Norman IS handsome – that's something that cannot be unnoticed. But that's not the thing that is drawing me to him. Maybe it's his job – I've always wanted to have some government contacts. And now it looks like I've found one. Maybe that's because of his conflict with Blake. I've never liked lieutenant too much and that's natural I'm taking Norman's side. Maybe the drugs- s_he snorted and shook her head, denying her previous thought.

_DRUGS! Is there any woman on this world who would actually be lured to a man because he's an addict? S_he snorted again._ Not possible. Only a fool would act THIS stupid! _

Now she raised, crossed her arms and started to pace around her motorbike splashing the muddy water all around._ Maybe I AM this stupid, maybe I AM a fool being involved with Norman! _

She stopped and sighed. _But it looks like I'm his only chance to quit this shit he's got mixed up into. I can't let him down, not now. Not after he's placed his trust in me, telling about his investigation. Not after he sung THIS song, not after he... _

Laraclosed her eyes and raised her face. She could feel the raindrops on her lips. She licked them up and opened her mouth, letting the rain pour into her. _...after I became attached to him. I know how foolish it sounds. I've known him only for five days! I know it's improper to feel like this after just a few days of knowing someone... _

Now she lowered her head and uttered a heavy sigh. _...but that's the simple truth. I'm not able to change it. The only thing I can do is to reconcile to it._

Miss Croft had no more time to think because she was able to hear the sound of a diesel engine.

_Norman..._ She froze. _I'm too visible in here! Gotta move my bike deeper between the containers – FAST! _

With superhuman effort she pushed her Ducati further from the scrapyard entrance. She put it just round the corner – it was quite good position to a quick escape if something gets screwed up.

It was done just in time. Lara stuck her head out from beyond the container to see agent Jayden getting out of a navy Mitsubishi. He immediately looked in her direction so she hid next to her Monster.

_Lucky you, girl! Looks like you've got sort of a sixth sense._

A few seconds later the young archaeologist decided to come out. She was stepping slowly, uncertainly. Her intension was not to make a sound. She succeeded and quietly landed behind a big piece of sheet metal. From there Lara was able to see Norman coming to a yellow bulldozer in the opposite corner of the scrapheap. She couldn't hear what he said but a moment later the awful noise stopped and from the interior of the vehicle appeared Mad Jack.

As he stood next to FBI agent she got scared. It looked like Jack was almost twice as Norman, and not only meaning height. Jayden was rather skinny and slim; Mad Jack had big muscles and posture of a bull. If they would fight – Lara had no doubt who'll win.

_Relax, girl, they won't fight. He'll just ask Jack some questions, Jack will answer them, Jayden will leave and you'll be able to go home. Everybody will be happy!_

While she was calming herself down, the men came inside the workshop. Unluckily, now Miss Croft wasn't able to see them. She could only wait, biting her nails to the bone.

Two minutes later the African American left his car garage and slowly walked to the bulldozer – alone. The other man must have stayed there. Mad Jack came inside the machine and turned on the engine. He was moving around a while but suddenly he stopped the vehicle and came out, holding something shining in his right palm. Lara strained her eyes until she could finally see what was it – and she almost screamed.

It was a gun.

_GUN, it's a gun! He's going to shoot Norman! I can't let him do it! _She was breathing heavily, hardly standing. _No time to think! Gotta find something out RIGHT NOW! Norman's life depends on it!_

She swallowed and looked around her. _If there's anything I can use as a weapon... _She saw a metal pipe laying just in front of the garage. _If I can reach it... No, Jack's gonna smash me. I must take him by surprise. Other way – I'm dead!_

"_You got to wait, Lara! Don't come in there under ANY condition! You'll get yourself killed!"_

"_Damn it, not now!" _the woman yelled at her double. _"I've already told you to beat it! Now let me act!"_

Alter-Lara grabbed her shoulders and shook her brutally. _"DON"T YOU GET IT? Norman will deal with Mad Jack for now. He's an FBI agent after all! He'll need your help later so you must do EXACTLY what I say, okay?" _

Young archaeologist finally agreed, nodding. _"Fine, tell me what to do.__"_

After the specter revealed her plan, Lara was amazed. _"Looks like you're a genius!"_

Her fetch smirked. _"You know, I'm the smart one – you're the beautiful one." _She hasn't lost her annoying sense of humor even under the circumstances.

"_Just get the hell outta my sight!" _She could hear Miss Croft saying as she run away from the junkyard. Alter-Lara smirked again and disappeared.

Meanwhile the woman was starting her motorbike in a huge hurry. _No time to waste! Come on, start you goddamn engine!_

Despite her further cursing, Ducati remained silent. She was at the very end of her tether. She jumped off the vehicle and started to kick it.

"START RIGHT NOW YOU YELLOW ITALIEN PIECE OF SHIT!" After these words it finally happened; it started.

"Thanks." she hissed and returned onto the seat. "Looks like it's time to start the party!"

Lara moved her bike a little and saw a horrible scene: Mad Jack was dragging Norman's body to his car. It looked like he was dead but she didn't hear a gunshot and she didn't see any blood. She believed that Jayden is alive, just unconscious.

_What's he doing? What is the purpose of putting Norman in the car?_

After Jack closed the door behind the man he directed his steps in the woman's direction.

_What will he do now?_

Suddenly she knew what's all this for. It hit her with an amazing force when African American disappeared in the bulldozer.

_He's going to crush the car! With Norman inside! NO WAY!_

Miss Croft stormed from the forest of containers and into the car cemetery. There she broke hard with the breaks squealing and stopped. She sprang off the bike and ran to the loudly working vehicle.

It was empty.

Suddenly she felt heat on the back of her head and she slid to the muddy ground. Despite the blurry vision she was able to see the face of Mad Jack with a big smirk on his face.

"Another one? I thought that one fucking cop is enough for one day." he laughed.

"I'm not a cop!" Lara yelled with her entire strength but the sound she made was very weak and quiet.

Jack laughed again and moved closer to her. "What? I can't hear you! Well, never mind. I know that there should be ladies first but I hope you'll forgive me if I take care of someone else for now. See you around." he finished and left the woman alone.

_Don't lose your consciousness, girl! Stay conscious! You have to – you know for who._

It wasn't easy, though. The pain wasn't small and all that the young archaeologist's body currently wanted was just to fall asleep. She was simply fighting with herself to keep her eyelids lifted.

Then she saw a dark shadow of something big above her. A moment later she realized what was that: Norman's car lifted by the bulldozer. Now she absolutely HAD to move her ass and do something.

It was very hard for her to raise but finally she managed to do this. She ran to the moving vehicle again, slipping on the thick layer of mud, ready to beat Mad Jack to death with her bare hands.

Again – there was no one inside.

Lara sighed and turned around just in time to see Jack's fist moving towards her face. She leaped aside and heard a loud crack. It was her opponent's palm hitting the metal body of the machine. He groaned and looked at her with the desire for murder in his eyes, holding his right hand.

"You broke my palm, bitch!" he shouted stepping slowly closer and closer to Miss Croft who was walking away from the mad man.

"Looks like I need to take care of YOU first!" African American shrieked even louder and continued moving towards the woman.

She looked at the hanging car for just a moment, wanting to make sure that Norman might be still alive. That was enough for Mad Jack. He went for the young archaeologist and knocked her over with his weight.

They both landed on the ground, the girl under the man. He started to hit her with his healthy left hand, clenched into fist. She felt blows all over her body: on the face, especially near the eyes and lips; on her chest, abdomen, both shoulders and neck. It hurt incredibly. She was sure she's gonna die.

_At least I tried... Goodbye, Norman. I hope we'll see each other on the other side soon..._

Suddenly Jack got up; his palm had to ache him already because he started to kick Lara. It was even worse. Luckily, he apparently forgot that she's got the face because he spared her more cuts and bruise on it.

_Well, at least I will look quite neatly in the coffin... _Miss Croft consoled herself and giggled. It surprised her; she had no idea she's able to laugh at the very edge between life and death.

It had to surprise Mad Jack too because he immediately stopped kicking, letting her to spill blood from her mouth and gasp for a breath.

"You're still laughing, whore? I'll teach you how to behave yourself when someone's beating ya!" With these words the man grabbed Lara by the neck and effortlessly lifted her for about a foot high.

"How about now, you slut?" he laughed in her face, showing his yellow teeth. "I'd like to hear you laughing. Come on, trollop, utter a sound!"

Now Lara had no doubts about her closest few seconds of her miserable existence – she knew they are going to be the last ones. Despite her long, sharp nails driving into Jack's skin on his hands, he was still squeezing her pharynx.

"_Don't give up, girl! Fight for your life! Don't let this bastard break you!"_

"_He's not breaking me, Alt. He's STRANGLING me!"_

"_You know what I mean. Move your legs! KICK HIM!"_

"_But where?"_

"_Jeez, Lara. IN HIS BALLS!"_

"_Oh, yeah... Sure, I'll try."_

"_Deal with Jack and help Norman. He needs you. MOVE!"_

"_Okay, okay. No pressure..."_

The woman started to kick her legs violently and tried to hit the target. It wasn't easy because she was quite far from her opponent. Besides, she could see almost nothing; sometimes in front of her eyes was only darkness.

When she was thinking she's breathing her last breath something hit her hard; first in her feet, then her bottom and back. Lara started to gasp, grabbing and holding her neck. A second later she knew what hit her: it was the ground. She managed to kick Mad Jack what caused him to drop her and writhe with pain.

The young archaeologist crawled a few meters away, still holding her sore throat and coughing.

_Dammit, Lara, move your ass and get the hell up! You got no time! MOVE!_

She turned her head and looked in the direction where lately her opponent was. He wasn't there. She looked up and saw a muddy sole above her head.

The woman rolled aside quickly and heard a splash as Jack's foot hit the ground. Then she saw another shadow so she rolled again. After a few turns more she felt something hard and cool behind her back.

She had nowhere to escape.

"Don't fuck with me, bitch!" she heard as African American was kicking her hard – this time he remembered about the face so Lara was trying to shield it with her both hands. Unfortunately, it was giving poor results.

"_Do something, girl! Quickly!"_

"_But what?"_

"_Try to grab his foot! Go on, DO IT!"_

The young woman listened to her double's suggestion and when Mad Jack's foot was an inch from her face she managed to grab it. The man was visibly surprised and stood idly on one leg for a few seconds. That gave her a chance.

The archaeologist pushed his foot with all her might. That caused him to fall down and hit the ground with his head. After this action Lara immediately rose, supporting herself with the bulldozer. She was hoping that this blow would make Jack pass out for a while so she would be able to help Norman.

Miss Croft got unsteadily in the vehicle, sad down on the seat and looked at the console in front of her. It was full of buttons and levers; some of the buttons were flashing, others were just shining, there were even some which weren't shining or flashing at all. Some levels were up, some were down. She scratched herself in the head.

_Ugh, this one won't be easy..._

She had no chance to wonder about this for longer because she was brutally drawn out of the running machine and smashed in the front of it, feeling the hot breath of Jack on her face. He had fury in his eyes. She knew that she moved too far – she was going to be murdered mercilessly.

"Enough!" he gasped. "Now we gonna see how flat can you become!" ending these words, he pushed her towards the treads of the bulldozer.

Lara responded with some desperate kicks in the man's legs what caused Mad Jack to drop her, just in front of the moving vehicle. As soon as she realized how close the tire is, she pushed away from his knee with both feet and slid several dozens of inches from the doom. She clumsily started to get up but slipped and landed with her face in the mud. Meanwhile the mad man came to himself and directed his slow, heavy footsteps in Miss Croft's direction. She was sure she is past any help. Further resistance is pointless – it would just put off the inevitable end and make it even more painful. So she was just calmly looking at him with the acceptation of her fate in the eyes.

"Glad you ain't moving no more." Jack said with a smirk on his lips. "That would make things a lot eas-" he suddenly stopped, turned his head over and looked at the bulldozer with fear.

"Oh, NO!" he yelled and fell to his knees. Then he lied down on the ground and started to scream like slaughtered piglet, driving his fingers into the mud.

The woman had no idea what was happening, at least until Mad Jack landed on the surface of the earth and uttered an awful moan. Meanwhile there was another sound available to be heard, unpleasant too: the crack of breaking bones.

_Oh God, the machine is squashing Jack ALIVE! I got to help him!_

Lara immediately rose and ran to the man... or rather to what was left from him. There she wasn't able to look down and just turned her face away. She closed her eyes and stopped her both ears using her hands, walking as far away as possible from the source of crying out. A few seconds later she uncovered her hands and sighed with relief, hearing nothing more than the sound of the engine.

The girl came towards the bulldozer, third time during last few minutes, and entered the vehicle. She sat comfortably and carefully read everything written on the console: on the buttons, next to them and next to the levers. Then she thought for a moment and in the end she moved a lever and pressed two buttons.

Complete silence descended on the wreck yard.

"_That's something... Now I need to bring the car down..."_

"_I suggest you first go to the workshop and look under the tires, not so far away from the entrance."_

"_What for?"_

"_You'll find something valuable. You'll need it in the nearest future. I'm telling you: go, have a look..."_

"_Ugh, fine!"_

Lara jumped out of the machine and directed her steps to the garage. There she rummaged some tires and found out what was her double talking about: a small, glass vial with turquoise powder... or maybe liquid in it. She wasn't sure about the state of the substance inside but she knew what it was.

"_Tripto... But why the hell do I need it?"_

"_You'll know it quite soon. Just take it."_

Miss Croft took the vial into two fingers, watched it for a moment, then sighed and hid it in one of her pockets. She rose and nearly stepped on something black. It was shining with a green glow. She crouched and had a closer look at it.

"ARI." she was able to read the lettering on one side of the device. _THIS ARI..._

She decided to take the glasses too. _You never know..._

Then she ran to the vehicle. When she was in, she read the inscriptions again and moved another lever. That caused the car to come lower and lower, until it finally touched the ground. The woman's finger touched another button and the tongs released the automobile. She moved the same lever again and the arm of the crane moved up. She finally got out of the bulldozer, came to the car, opened the door and peeped inside. Luckily, Norman was inside, safe and sound, just unconscious.

"Hey! Hey Norman! Hey! Wake up!" she slapped the man gently on his left cheek. "Come on, Norman! Wake up!" she repeated the action but this time, she hit him a little harder.

It worked. Jayden started to twist his head subtly, mumbling and blinking rapidly. After a few seconds he finally opened his eyes and looked at Lara with astonishment.

"La... Lara? Is... Is that you?" he asked weakly.

The woman smiled. "Yeah, that's me. Everything's fine now. We're both safe."

Agent opened his mouth but said nothing. He closed it and scratched himself in the head. "Wha... What's happened?"

"Mad Jack has beaten you up a little but from what I'm able to see now you look quite all right." Miss Croft explained. "You've got some dry blood under your nose but that's nothing." she continued, touching the place she was talking about with her fingers.

Norman immediately grabbed her hand and looked at Lara's face. Then he stroke her cut forehead with the external side of his palm and moved it gently lower, through battered cheek to black and blue neck. He stopped there and put his gaze away from her throat and looked into her eyes.

"You're in much worse condition." he said with a tearful voice. "Who did it to you?"

The archaeologist bit her lip. "Jack. I was fighting with him for a while."

Now Norman got furious; he immediately jumped out of the car, bumping into Lara and almost knocking her over, fists clenched. "Where the hell is this bastard? As soon as I get him into my hands-"

"You're not able to do anything to him, Norman." she said quietly, looking at the ground.

"Why not?" the man asked curiously, turning around.

Miss Croft hid her face in her hands and sighed heavily. "Because the only thing that's left from him is a mash."

"What?"

She shook her head. "He's been crushed by the bulldozer. It wasn't my fault, I didn't push him or something..."

"God, Lara." the man sighed and hugged the woman. "I'm sorry you had to watch this. I'm really sorry."

"The... The worst... were... were... th-the screams. I... I wanted to help him but... b-but..."

"Shh, don't say anything more, Lara. Everything is fine. Don't worry. It wasn't your fault." Jayden was repeating all the time, stroking her head.

They remained like this for about a minute. After this time Norman cleared his throat and gently pushed the girl from him towards the remnants of the automobile. There he placed her in the seat and covered her with his coat. Then he crouched and lifted the woman's chin to make her look at him.

"Listen, I'll be right back. I just... I just need to look for something. Stay put, I'll be back in an instant." he rose and started to walk away.

Lara bit her lower lip and rummaged in her jacket for a while. "To look for this?" she asked, holding something small in her hand.

The man turned around, looked at her and froze. She could see the panic in his eyes.

"Where did you find this?" his voice was full of panic, too. He was breathing heavily, staring at her.

"In the workshop." she simply responded.

"Lara, please, give it to me." he extended his hand and looked expectantly.

She shook her head. "No, I can't do this."

"Why?"

"This shit is killing you. I can't let you destroy yourself anymore." the girl said calmly, looking directly into the man's eyes.

"What are you talking about?" Jayden asked, raising his voice unnaturally.

"Tripto is very dangerous, Norman. You have to quit. And pretend no longer. I know the truth." she continued.

FBI agent squeezed his eyes. "And how much of the truth do you know?"

"Everything. Both about Triptocaine AND ARI."

"What exactly?"

Lara sighed. "Well, Triptocaine is an illegal drug provided by FBI to counterbalance the side-effects of using ARI. You're the only one of thirty young and healthy man who ARI was given to for testing. The rest of them died. You're the lucky guy who's got the right substance in time. Tripto, that is." she took a breath and got up. "That's in short everything I know."

Norman lowered his gaze. "So you know I have to take it. I have no choice."

"There's always a choice, Norman." denied Miss Croft, getting closer to the man. "You can always choose your way."

"MY WAY IS A DEAD END!" he yelled. "If I won't take Tripto, I'm going to die.! That's the condition I HAVE to satisfy to use ARI!"

"So simply stop using ARI." stated Lara, still getting closer and closer. "That would solve all your problems."

He shook his head. "It's not easy. Believe me, I've tried. Many times. And it didn't work."

"I've tried... Sure, sure..." she closed her eyes and opened them a second later. "You're not afraid to die?" Now the woman was shouting, white from anger. "Twenty nine's dead already! You want to increase statistics? Go ahead!" and she threw the vial just in front of Norman.

Immediately she knew she's moved too far. The man didn't even take a look at the drug; he dragged his feet to the bulldozer and leaned his back on the front of it. Then he closed his eyes and slipped down the machine to the ground. He hid his face in his arms and Lara was able to hear the sound of weeping.

_God, what I have done..._

She crouched beside him but was feeling too guilty to even think about touching Jayden.

"God, what I have done..." the repetition of her thoughts was the only thing that could currently come through her mouth.

"Does everyone have to remind me about it?" Norman suddenly asked, raising his head. She could see some clear liquid on his cheeks. It wasn't rainwater, though.

"They... they were all my colleagues." he continued, staring vacantly in the space in front of him. "And they died because of the bloody FBI mistake!" he almost shouted. He lowered his eyes again and sighed. "And I'm the only one left..." He closed his eyes and shook his head. "I just want to prove the agency that they haven't died to waste. That you can live with ARI and don't overindulge in it but... it's getting harder and harder. Sometimes... sometimes I just can't get a grab on reality. There are evenings when I don't know where does the dream end and the real world begin."

All this time Miss Croft was carefully watching the man and that caused her to have tears in her eyes too. She just couldn't be angry with him, with a man who was absolutely desperate to get out of the maze he's gotten into. She finally decided to stroke his head gently and say something to comfort him. He didn't moved away.

"I understand it, Norman but..." she didn't know what to say next. "...but there's a better way to honor your colleagues' death. Just try to solve this case without ARI, using the old good methods. You know, collecting clues and all this stuff. It can't be that hard." she became silent for a moment. "I'll help you." she declared suddenly.

Now Jayden livened up and looked at Lara with a bright glare in his eyes, visibly surprised.

"You... you DO want to help me?" he asked mistrustfully. "After all what you know you still want to be involved with me?"

The woman bit her lower lip. "Yes, I've already made a decision. I just can't let you use ARI or take Tripto anymore." She looked deeply into the man's eyes. "I mean, when you have a chance to change somebody's life and you don't take the opportunity, you're not only doing a bad deed – you're letting someone to give himself to the addiction and if this person dies, it's you who's got it on your conscience." She lowered her gaze. 'And I'd hate myself if I'd let you die, Norman."

"When did you made a decision?" he asked with curiosity.

She opened her mouth but said nothing at all. Then the woman cleared her throat and started. "I don't know. I guess I did it on Tuesday when you called me." Lara wasn't looking at Norman not to show that she's lying. She knew that this decision was made on the day they first met; and what's worse, it wasn't made by herself.

He frowned. "So by this time you already knew?"

Miss Croft simply nodded.

"Why have you come to see me then?"

"I... I just..." she wasn't able to finish. She had no idea what to say. "I've always loved to help people in need, that's sort of my second hobby. I've never dealt with a doper before so I thought that could be quite interesting experience." she chuckled nervously, covering her lips with one hand.

_Another lie... Take it easy, girl. Relax..._

The FBI agent was watching her for almost a minute and finally asked. "Now I've got the last question."

She smiled friendly. "Shoot."

"How have you found out?" he said, raising from the ground and shaking the mud off his pants.

She was hoping that he wouldn't ask. But he was a profiler after all so...

"I've done a little research. That's one of a few things that an archaeologist must be good at." Miss Croft joked, getting up as well. "Oh, here's your coat. Thanks a lot." she changed the topic immediately, giving the cloak to Jayden.

"Oh, right, thanks." he responded quietly and took the clothing from her. "I hope it was warm enough." he added, putting it on.

"Yeah, of course it was." Lara answered, not looking at the man again.

_Yeah, it was warm. It was so soft and it smelled so great..._

It was the very first time she caught herself on these sort of thoughts and it surprised her a lot. She promised herself she has to stay focus. To help herself do the job, she drew out the pair of glasses and showed them to her companion.

"I guess these belong to you, too." she smirked and put it in his extended empty hand.

He smiled. "Today you seem to have everything what's mine, Lara." and hid it in his coat.

"I hope that includes your attention." she gave tit for tat with joy.

Norman giggled softly. "Of course. Especially that it seems that you need to see a doctor. I would give you a lift but..." he looked significantly at the wreck behind them and Lara followed his gaze. "...but I'm afraid that someone's stolen my driving wheel."

Now she couldn't stop herself and burst out with laugh. "Not to worry, Sir. I've got my bike down there. Looks like we don't need to come back on foot." she said as soon as she was able to and moved towards the yellow Monster.

"It will be my pleasure to be given a lift by you." the man bounded low, laughing too and followed the girl.

When they almost reached the bike, the young archaeologist turned around and looked at her companion. "Now it's me who's got a question to you, Norman."

"Go ahead."

"Is there anything you've gotten out of Mad Jack before he... you know." she sat on her Ducati and played with the shifter.

Jayden stood with his arms akimbo and thought for a second. "The only important thing I can remember is a name: Paco Mendez."

Now THIS information astonished Lara a lot. She stopped twisting the shifter and looked at Norman. "Paco Mendez? THIS Paco Mendez? You mean, the owner of the _Blue Lagoon_?"

He nodded. "Exactly the same one."

"But what the heck did he have in common with Mad Jack?"

"Paco is the guy who ordered Jack to paint Chevy Malibu '83 blue. Of course, I'm talking about the one we're looking for." he crossed his arms and smirked.

"Well, well... Quite impressive, Mr Jayden. Congratulations." the woman smiled. "Now get on the bike. I'm craving for a hot shower. How about you?"

"Well, I have to admit that sounds tempting. Let's go!"


	8. Chapter 8 Fish Tank

Hi there!

There's the fresh portion of my Fic. This one includes another fight scene - I hope I did on as well as in previous chapter.

There are only four chapters left! (excluding epilogue)

Read and review!

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Chapter 8

Fish Tank

6th October 2011

11:27 PM

"You're ABSOLUTELY sure you want to come?" Norman asked the same question tenth time during last fifteen minutes. And it made Lara angry.

She took her eyes off the crowds around the entrance to the _Blue Lagoon_ and turned her face to her companion. "I'm telling you tenth time already: Yes, I DO want to come."

"You know it can be-"

The woman raised her hand. "DANGEROUS. Yes, I know. Still, I want to come. And spare me next questions and warnings. I've had enough of them after third round already."

The man opened his mouth but said nothing. He closed it and remained silent for a minute, watching the night club. Then he looked at Miss Croft apologetically. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to irritate you. I just don't want anything bad happen to you."

She snorted. "I guess you're a little late with this. I've already been beaten up today."

Her interlocutor lowered his gaze and sighed. "I know it. And I'm really sorry for it too. I should protect you and not seat unconscious in the wrecked car when you were fighting for our lives."

The girl shook her head. "Hey, Norman! Cheer up! I'm quite fine. Really. I'll live."

Jayden raised his eyes. "That's what the doctor said?"

"The doctor?" she raised her eyebrows.

"You've promised me you gonna see the doctor." he nodded.

"Oh, the doctor! Yes, these are exactly his words." she muttered quietly, not looking at her companion.

It was a lie, of course. She had no time to visit any bloody doc! Maybe if she had some friendly one who wouldn't ask questions, she would let him examine her but she had none. And explaining to a normal doctor how she has become so black and blue wasn't something she would be able to stand. So the only thing she did was coming back home, fixing herself up a little and applying a thick layer of make-up to hide cuts and bruises from Norman. She didn't want to make him feel even worse than he currently had to for sure.

Besides, the make-up was quite appreciated in _Blue Lagoon_, one of the most popular night clubs in Philadelphia. It was the place of parties for the young high society but a membership card wasn't required to come in. Paco Mendez, the owner, ran the place with an iron hand and if anyone was causing troubles he immediately landed outside with no right to ever come back. Despite Paco's fondness for beautiful women with tempting bodies, _Blue Lagoon_ was free from any strip sessions or orgies. It was quite calm place but very crowded. Lara knew it won't be easy to get to the owner and have a chat. That's why she decided she's going to play the sexy girl if Norman's badge won't settle the matter. If there would be no other choice, a dance in front of Mendez could be maybe the only way to save Shaun Mars. She was absolutely ready to sacrifice her pride for the kid: both mentally and physically. After all she had the reason to put on a green midi dress in big white dots. The cloth was a little see-through but what was supposed to be covered was covered. It was quite new – Jade bought it for her as a birthday present – but it was the very first time she had it on.

Norman apparently hadn't seen this yet because he would tell her a compliment for sure. No wonder – for now she was wearing her navy coat on the dress so it wasn't visible.

"So... We're going?" Miss Croft's companion asked, interrupting her with her thoughts.

She nodded quickly. "Of course. Let's go."

Jayden was outside in a second and another second later he was already on the other side of the car, opening the door for Lara.

"You didn't have to, Norman." she shook her head but got out. The man closed the door behind her and open a black umbrella above her.

"God, Norman, you're just too kind for these times, you know it?" she joked, wrapping herself up in the coat.

He sighed. "Well, I guess so. Come on. I don't want to get soaked any minute longer."

They directed their footsteps to the entrance of the club. When they arrived there the bodyguard in black suit ran his eyes over the couple, then checked on them with a metal detector and finally, after a few long moments he said "Clean." and they were able to enter the building.

Being already inside, Lara asked the man "Have you told Blake about Mad Jack?"

Her companion smirked. "Why should I?"

"BECAUSE I don't want to be accused of murder!" she shouted what caused all the people around them to look at the woman with curiosity.

"Damn, we were supposed not to arouse suspicions!" young archaeologist hissed. "It's all because of you!"

The man raised his both hand in the gesture of surrender. "Hey! Don't become angry! Of course I've told Blake about Jack. The police took over the case. No one is going to accuse you of anything. It was self-defense. Besides, you haven't pushed him towards the running bulldozer. He simply fell under it, right?"

"Yeah, of course..." she confirmed weakly. She sighed and looked towards the coat room. "I think that leaving our cloaks in there could be a good idea, don't you think?" she changed the topic.

"Yes, I do think so." Norman nodded. "May I?" he asked, taking off the cover from Miss Croft. He carried it to the young smiling woman behind the desk in the opposite corner of the lounge. There he took off his coat too and handed both over clothes to her. Next he did the same with the umbrella. In return the blonde gave him a small ticket which was immediately hidden in one of Jayden's pockets.

"So, are we-" the man started, coming closer to Lara but he suddenly stopped. He was just standing in the middle of the lobby and staring at the woman.

"Something's wrong?" his companion asked, a bit irritated.

He blinked a few times. "No... everything is fine..." he shook his head. "It's... it's just... I-"

"Jeez, Norman, spill!" she sighed, coming closer to her interlocutor.

"You look absolutely gorgeous." the agent finally spit out with disbelief in his voice.

"Sorry?"

"You look lovely. I've never seen any woman looking as beautiful as you do tonight. Green suits you perfectly. It would be in place to sing 'Lady In Red' by Chris DeBurgh but there's one major difference: your dress isn't red." Norman whispered, looking directly into Lara's lamps. She wasn't sure was that an illusion or not, but she was able to see he's got glassy eyes.

"Well, I... I don't know what to say..." she started unsteadily but was immediately interrupted by the man.

"Don't say a thing. Just... just..."

"All right, Norman." Miss Croft nodded and simply stood as he was watching her. She was sure he wants to remember every fold, every crease on her dress, every single detail of her current appearance. There was only one thing she was wondering about: what for?

After five minutes Norman finally came back to life. He muttered something similar to "Let's move." and directed his steps to the main hall. The girl shrugged her shoulders and followed him.

When they were pushing through the crowd, a woman with short, dark hair coming from opposite direction bumped into Lara who was nearly knocked over.

"Hey, watch out!" the archaeologist said to her, annoyed.

"Oh, I'm sorry! I'm really sorry!" she heard in reply and the woman in fiery red blouse and black, extremely short skirt disappeared from her view.

"Clubbing..." Miss Croft sighed and shook her head with resignation.

When they finally arrived in the main room they saw that the entire room was one big dance floor.

People were reversing anywhere you could imagine.

"I think I've got a deja vu." the girl stated, crossing her arms on the chest.

"Me too." Norman responded. "I guess you don't have any friends in here, do you?" he asked, turning towards his companion.

She shook her head. "Nope. And I've never been here before. This is my first visit in _Blue Lagoon_."

The man nodded slowly and smiled. "Well, I don't know will it comfort you or not, but I'm here for the very first time too."

She laughed weakly. "Sorry but it doesn't comfort me at all."

"No problem for me."

The woman sighed and looked around. "I think we should start from him." she finally said, pointing to a bodyguard in black suit who was standing nearby.

Jayden looked at the man for a while and nodded again. "Sounds good. Let's go."

After five minutes of fighting their way through the crowd of dancers they finally came face to face with the one they wanted to talk with.

"I'm here to see Paco..." Norman started but the man hushed him with one gesture of his hand.

"Paco?" he snorted and shook his head. "There ain't no Paco here, fella. Get lost." and wanted to turn away but the agent didn't give up and grabbed his arm.

"What's wrong with you, pal?" the bodyguard yelled at Lara's companion.

As a reply FBI profiler showed his badge and waved with it in front of the man's eyes. "Are you absolutely certain?"

The muscle scratched himself in the head and sighed. "He's in his office... Take the stairs over there." the man finally spoke and pointed to the other corner of the hall.

Jayden nodded and moved in the direction where the stairs were. Miss Croft followed him but was suddenly stopped by the bodyguard.

"Hey! You're staying here, doll!" he said to her with his eyes squinted.

Norman came to the arguing couple and grabbed Lara's arm. "She's with me." he said and pulled her along, leaving the angry man behind.

"Thank you." the woman managed to say when they were climbing the stairs.

"You're welcome. You're my partner after all. I can't do my job without you." her companion said, not even looking at her.

In front of the door upstairs was another bodyguard. Agent Jayden showed him his badge and he let them both come in with no objection to the young archaeologist's presence.

Behind the door there was a small corridor which led to another pair of doors. The man knocked three times but nothing happened. Now he did it again – no reply either. He gave a questioning look to the girl who quickly nodded. Norman sighed and pressed the handle.

The door opened wide with a creak.

Jayden started to come in but suddenly turned his face to Lara. "You're staying here."

The woman's jaw dropped. "What? No way! I'm coming with you!"

"No, it's too dangerous. I don't know what can be found there. I don't want to expose you to danger." her interlocutor argued.

She raised her both hands. "I've already seen and heard crushed Mad Jack. AND I was fighting with him. AND I survived. So I think this time it won't be much worse."

Profiler bit his lower lip and sighed. "You're very stubborn, you know that?"

"Oh yes, I've been told this many times."

He smiled softly. "All right. You can come with me. But do be careful."

She nodded. "I will. I promise."

The both entered Paco's office; the girl behind the man. Everything looked normal; all furniture were intact and fishes were swimming calmly in an aquarium. The only one thing strange was a lamp on the floor, near the opposite wall.

Miss Croft turned her head around and froze, looking right.

"Holy crap, Norman, do you see exactly what I see now?" she whispered to his ear. "Look over there!"

Jayden followed her gaze and stopped half-step. "Looks like we've found Paco."

On the swivel chair, turned away from them, was a man. They couldn't see his face but it probably was Paco Mendez.

Lara started to come closer to the furniture, hypnotized by the view. When she was right next to it, she extended her hand, touched the chair and started to turn it around.

"Lara, no!" the agent almost shouted but it was too late.

The woman took a breath and covered her mouth with her palm, moving back. On the furniture there was now clearly visible Paco Mendez's corpse. It was pale and stiff. Miss Croft didn't want to check it for herself but she could swear he was as cold as ice. In the middle of his forehead he had a dark-red sign from the bullet.

"Now we know why he didn't respond for knocking." the man stated calmly, pulling out the glasses.

The girl turned towards him and yelled, furious "NORMAN! Sweet Jesus, you were supposed to leave this junk in the hotel room!"

Jayden lowered his head. "I know but..." He sighed. "...but after over two years of using ARI you no longer believe in normal methods." She didn't know he was crying or not because he's already put the glasses on.

"I know it must be very hard to leave it behind but you-" she wasn't able to finish the sentence because she was pushed by a male dark figure. She slid over the desk and hit the floor on the other side of the furniture.

"Lara!" her companion pounced on the assailant with all his weight but his opponent moved away from him and Norman fell to the ground. He immediately got up and tried to punch the shape but it dodged and kicked the man in his chest. Then it kicked the agent again and again, causing the profiler to writhe with pain.

Meanwhile Miss Croft rose unsteadily to her feet and wiped the blood from her lips. Next she jumped onto the desk and from there onto the figure who was hurting Jayden. She started to pummel his head and everything she could reach. It didn't last for long, though. The male brutally shook her off his back and threw a lamp from Paco's desk at her. A moment later he was standing over the girl, watching her suffering. Suddenly he moaned and slipped to the floor. It was because of Norman who cut the figure with katana, taken off from the wall behind him. It wasn't a cut to kill but it was painful for sure.

The agent threw the blade away and crouched to help Lara get up. When they were both standing he hugged the woman who hastily moved away, shouting "Watch out!"

Jayden jumped aside just in time. Katana sliced the air in the place where he was standing just a second ago. When the opponent realized he missed the target, he rose the sword and pounced on the profiler who dodged again, bouncing on the wall behind him. Now he was trapped, he had nowhere to go. The figure rose the blade, preparing for the final strike when someone knocked him over.

"Norman, you-" the male didn't let Lara finish because he rolled aside what caused the girl to find herself beneath the opponent. Then he used his elbows to hit Miss Croft, immobilizing her with his body's weight.

The profiler couldn't watch this longer and attacked the dark figure with his bare hands. That helped the woman because the assailant decided to take care of Jayden first. She wanted to get up and help her friend but despite she wished it so badly her body was repeating "NO WAY!".

Meanwhile the aggressor managed to grab Norman and push him into the fish tank. The aquarium fell into many small, sharp pieces and the agent landed in the very middle of them. The male figure looked awhile at his work and calmly left the office.

Lara finally rose to her feet and, swaying, ran after the opponent. When she went out into the hall, she looked around. There were no signs of the assailant. The girl passed the surprised bodyguard without a word and looked at the floor. She smiled and took the nearby stairs to the roof, carefully searching for further trails of blood.

When she was already outside, she immediately ran to the right where fire escapes were located. She crouched to find some descent on the metal steps and took a quick look at the alley underneath her. It lasted for long enough to let her see blue Chevrolet Malibu '83 leaving the passage with a screech of tires and moving west towards the river.

_Gotcha!_

The woman rose and wiped the sweat from her forehead. She laughed bitterly seeing the remnants of the fluid foundation on her palm.

_And she said it was waterproof! Bloody hostess!_

She sighed heavily and slowly walked back inside, slamming the door behind her. Downstairs she froze, looking at Norman who was fisting the bodyguard's throat and yelling at him.

"Watch my lips, asshole, 'cause I've got no time to translate. Did Paco know the guy – yes or no?"

The man started to cough a little but managed to utter "John... He said his name was John..." He made a pause there and barked some times more. "Friend of Paco's, always let him straight up..."

The bodyguard was visibly choking so Jayden released him and turned around. He opened his eyes wide seeing Lara on the stairs but shook his head and came closer to the girl.

"I've gotten the name of the guy who's kicked the shit out of us. It's John, Paco's friend. That's why he didn't suspect the attack." the profiler crossed his arms, smirking proudly. But he became serious when he noticed his companion's look.

"You shouldn't threat people like this, Norman." Miss Croft shook her head. "What has he done to you?" She snorted. "Whatever he has, that's no reason to strangle him. You could gain this information in any other way. Most of them would be better."

The man lowered his head and closed his eyes. "You're right. I shouldn't beat him because I have been beaten up."

She sighed. "I'm glad you're thinking so. Now let's go and search for the next clues." with these words she passed the agent and directed her footsteps to the office. Jayden followed her slowly.

When they were at the crime scene, the girl grabbed Norman's hand and looked into his eyes. "Don't use ARI this time. Please."

The man shook his head. "I can't. I need a real proof. And with ARI I can record everything. I need it to shut Blake's mouth and clear Ethan Mars' name."

Lara bit her lower lip. "Fine." she finally sighed. "But let me investigate on my way, okay?"

Her interlocutor smiled. "I won't disturb you."

The profiler crouched to get back his glasses. Meanwhile the woman was moving around, watching everything carefully. A minute later she felt she had found something interesting: two receipts from the same gas station, somewhere in Philly.

She looked at her companion but he was absorbed with his toy so much that she had no conscience to interrupt him. She just sighed and squatted to pick up the clue and after a while of deep thinking hide it in her purse.

About ten minutes later they both decided it's time to puck up. The couple slowly left the office and went to the lobby. Being there Lara suddenly stopped.

"Hey, what's wrong?" Jayden asked softly.

"You're bleeding, Norman." the girl explained.

"From my nose?" he inquired and started to wipe his snout.

"No! You're bleeding almost EVERYWHERE!" she almost shouted, looking at the man again.

She immediately regretted this. When she gazed at him carefully, she could even see some shards of glass ticking out of his flesh. The fall on the area full of broken fish tank wasn't good for Norman's health.

The profiler looked ad himself, astonished. "You mean these scratches?" He snorted. "That's nothing really. I've been in worst situations."

She shook her head. "Maybe but these wounds must be decontaminated and dressed. Do you have any disinfectant in your hotel room?"

He snorted again. "Of course not."

Miss Croft sighed. "Well, in this case I need to take you to my place."

"What?" Jayden asked, surprised.

She nodded. "Yes, I'm going to play a nurse and fix you up. Otherwise, you may catch the infection." She looked into his eyes. "I'll be delicate, I promise."

Norman was thinking for a while and sighed. "All right." he finally agreed. "But under one condition."

"I'm all ears."

"We'll visit the station first."

"What? Are you out of you mind?" she went off for him. "We ain't got no time for sightseeing! These cuts must be disinfected IMMEDIATELY and that's EXACTLY what I'm going to do! Now let's move!" she finished and walked angrily towards the exit from the building.

"Lara..." the man said calmly. The young archaeologist had no other choice but to turn around.

"Yes?"

"Our coats."

She sighed. "Oh, yeah, our coats. I've totally forgotten."

He siled sweetly. "I'll get them. Wait for me here." and he walked away.

_This soft smile... God, with this I'm able to agree for anything..._

"Here you are." her friend appeared from nowhere and helped her to put on her cloak. He was already wearing his.

"So, about the trip to the station..." he started but Lara interrupted him.

"I said no! I don't want to expose your health. Besides, it's..." she took a quick look at her watch. "...it's half past midnight! You're thinking that there's anyone still at the station?"

Norman shook his head. "I doubt it. But I'm going to call captain Perry and Blake and get them there in half an hour."

Miss Croft thought for a moment. "Well, in this case I don't want to be there along with you."

"Why?" her interlocutor asked, intrigued.

"Because I REALLY don't wish to be smashed by furious lieutenant. For your knowledge, I want to live a few years more." the woman stated, crossing her arms.

"Come on, it wouldn't be that bad. I'll protect you from the beast." he giggled quietly. "I think I've found something interesting. I need to present it to Blake and Perry as soon as possible." the man replied. "Besides, someone has got to clean up the mess in Paco's office. We should report the murder if we want to remain clean."

Now Lara gave up. "All right, I'll take you to the station. But then we drive to my place where I'm going to prepare a small hospital, okay?"

He smiled. "Sounds fine for me. Let's go."

They left the night club and slowly walked across the street to Norman's new rented car. When they were just beside it the girl extended her hand and said "Gimme the keys."

"What for?" the man asked, surprised.

"I won't let you drive in this condition. Gimme the keys." she repeated her request.

"You can drive the car as well?"

She nodded quickly. "Yes, I can. You want me to show you the license?"

He laughed and shook his head. "No, of course not. Here you are." and he laid the keys on the young archaeologist's palm.

"Thanks, Norman." she smirked and opened the automobile. When she was already inside she put the key in the ignition and turned it. She smirked again, hearing the soft sound of running engine.

"You know where to go?" Jayden asked her, sitting inside too.

"You bet!" she responded and pushed the pedal to the metal.

The vehicle joined the heavy traffic. Meanwhile the man took out his cell phone, dialed a number and after a few seconds started the conversation.

"Blake, it's Norman Jayden on the line..."


	9. Chapter 9 Farewell

Yes.

I know I haven't written for more than 4 months.

Yes.

I know that there are no excuses for negligence of Writer's duties.

And yes.

I'm ashamed.

But now I've decided to finish my FanFic, especially that I already have an idea for another one. I need to finish this one quickly, hoping that the idea won't escape my head.

For now, enjoy Chapter 9 - and, of course, review!

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Chapter 9

Farewell

7th October 2011

12:58 AM

Long, slick fingers of the man sitting behind the desk were tapping the top as his gaze was moving from the entrance to the police station to the pensive young woman in front of him. He sighed and covered his face with his second hand. Then he touched the corner of his left eye and looked at his digits.

They were clean.

Norman sighed again and took a quick look at the door.

"Maybe they got stuck in the traffic jam?" he asked weakly, turning his face to Lara.

The girl said nothing. She knew that was one of the questions that usually don't require the answer. As a reply she looked at him and remained like this for a few seconds.

"Shit, they were supposed to be here five minutes ago! And there's nothing! No one!" he got up and started to pace around, voice raised. "Looks like they're not willing to find the killer BEFORE it's too late for Shaun Mars!" he continued, putting heavy footsteps all around the station and waving energetically with his arms.

Miss Croft bit her lower lip and straightened up. "You should never lose hope." she finally said calmly, crossing her legs.

"Never lose hope... Ha!" he shouted, stopping and turning to the archaeologist. "Never lose hope – so easy to say. So hard to be done." he laughed bitterly.

"Why you're so sarcastic?" she asked, crossing her arms.

He snorted. "I haven't got the faintest fucking idea. Maybe it's Blake who's getting on my nerves all the time. Maybe it's the Origami Killer who kicked the shit out of me. Maybe that's this weather with the continuous rain which I really, REALLY hate." he shook his head with disgust. "Honestly, how are you able to live in a city where it never stops raining?"

Lara opened her mouth but the words that came through it weren't the answer to the question. "How long haven't you taken?"

"Sorry?" her interlocutor frowned.

"How long have you run without Tripto?" she asked slowly, looking into his eyes.

The man was rendered speechless for a few seconds. "I..." he eventually started but didn't finish. Instead he dragged his feet to the nearest chair and sat on it. He dropped his head and closed his eyes.

"Last time it was on Tuesday... Before you came to visit me... And when I stormed out the bar... That was because of Tripto too." he mumbled, sighing. "Before this, I haven't taken for over a month. It was hard and it's not getting easier... I start to feel worse and worse..." His voice broke down, he had to clear his throat.

The girl raised and came to Jayden. She bit her lower lip, having no idea what to say or do. In the end she decided to crouch and gently stroke her companion's hair. That caused him to raise his gaze and Miss Croft's eyes met his.

"I'm sorry, Lara... I shouldn't saddle you with my problems. You reap what you sow." he smiled weakly.

"It's easier to reap when there's someone beside you." the girl responded.

"Indeed." she could hear in reply.

All this time their faces were getting closer and closer to each other. Finally they were so close that their noses were osculating. All this time they were looking into each other's eyes and they both couldn't believe colors and patterns of their irises.

They could remain like this for ages but they weren't given the chance.

"Jayden! Stop flirting or whatever it is you're doing. I thought we have some work to do." Blake was callous.

The couple sighed and got up. Carter was keeping a wary eye on the woman. He knew he had known her from somewhere but he didn't remember where from.

"What's your name and what are you doing here?" he asked, pointing out to the young archaeologist.

"Lara Croft. I've given Norman a ride here." she explained, nodding to greet lieutenant.

He scratched himself in the head. "Croft... I've seen it somewhere before..." The man snapped his fingers. "Of course! The woman who wanted to testify! How was the interrogation?"

"Quite good, thanks." the girl's friend replied with chafe in his voice. "Maybe we'll move on, shall we?" he saved her from more questions.

"Well... Okay. After all there must be a reason for which you've phoned me and woken me up in the middle of night." Blake said, walking towards Norman's office.

"Indeed, there's a reason for that." Jayden nodded and followed lieutenant. Lara did the same.

"I hope there is, 'cause Carla was ready to kick my ass for getting up in such an ungodly hour." the man continued his rant but suddenly he stopped and turned around just in time to see the young archaeologist yawning.

"Am I boring you, Miss Croft?" Blake rose his voice and started to approach the girl. "Well, I don't give a damn about this, 'cause actually you're not supposed to be here. So beat it!" and with these words he jostled Lara so that she fell onto the floor.

"Carter, what the hell are you doing?" Norman, who had already put on ARI, pounced on lieutenant. "Are you out of your fucking mind?"

The policeman turned his face to the profiler. "Move back, Jayden or I'll have to arrest you too!"

"Me too?" the agent snorted. "You gonna arrest her? Why?"

"For interfering in the investigation, that is why!" he heard in reply.

"Interfering? She's helping me, you fool! Of course, little Carter knows nothing, as always." Norman spread his arms with an evil grin on his face. "If there's anyone who should be arrested, it's you, Blake." he finished, smirking even wider.

"Do not push it, Jayden." the furious man hissed through set teeth.

The other man continued, undaunted. "It's you who does nothing to save Shaun Mars and find the killer. It's you who wants to arrest innocent people. Finally, it's YOU who tries to beat confession outta everyone. I won't let you behave like that." With every step he was closer and closer to lieutenant who was getting more and more red on his face.

"So what you gonna do, Norman?" he scoffed and stepped forward. "You REALLY gonna arrest me?" He stepped forward again. "I have to tell you something, boy, 'cause you haven't obviously realized it yet..." Now the two men were standing face to face, both angry and ready to kill each other. "No one threatens me, even an FBI guy with cool glasses like you. Now I suggest you take your broad and leave the place BEFORE I change my mind and decide to put a bullet right into your face."

Now it was too much for Jayden. "You won't call her like that!"

Blake laughed. "Oh la la! Looks like our brave hero fell in love! Well, I wish you both good luck – just far away from me and my city."

All this time Lara was sitting on the floor and watching both men arguing. It was kind of interesting. Blake's last words astonished her, though.

"_Norman fell in love? With me? Preposterous!"_

"_Maybe, but I don't believe in it."_

"_I don't really care whether you believe in it or not. Besides, I told this to myself."  
_

"_Actually, you haven't even spoken a word. How to explain this to you... Well, you're just... thinking."_

"_Shut up!"_

Lara winked a few times and when she finally took a look at the men in front of her she was a witness of a hair-rising scene.

When she was talking with her double, Blake managed to remove ARI from Norman's face. Now the profiler was desperately trying to get them back while lieutenant was carefully looking at them with a wide grin on his lips.

"Well, well, well, Norman, looks like you're powerless now without your cool glasses." he laughed bitterly.

"Give them back, Carter!" Jayden almost cried out loud. "The evidence about the Origami Killer is recorded here. Without them, I won't be able to solve the case and save Shaun Mars!"

The policeman thought for a moment and finally smirked again. "Well, that means I know EXACTLY what I'm supposed to do with them..." and with these words he smashed ARI onto the floor and tracked the device with his own shoe.

Blake's action rendered Jayden speechless for a few seconds. Then he knelt down and took remnants of the device in his hands. It blinked a few times and became dead.

He rose his face towards lieutenant. "How could you? Now there's no hope for Shaun Mars! At all! I won't be able to help!"

"That means you gonna leave the city." Carter snorted, crossing his arms on his chest. "And that means I'll be in charge of the Origami Killer case now."

"You care ONLY about your badge and don't give a shit about the kid!" Norman shouted at the top of his voice.

The only Blake's reply was a huge grin.

Now even Lara had enough of this dumb ass. She got up and stepped toward the policeman. She grabbed his shoulder and violently turned him around.

"Listen you scum-" she started but she had no chance to finish because the man punched her right in the face and she found herself on the floor again. She touched her nose and took a quick look at her palm. It was red with blood.

"Now you gonna pay for this, Blake!" the profiler shouted and pulled out his gun. Then he aimed at Carter who started to laugh.

"And what? You gonna shoot me?" he asked when he finally stopped laughing. "Go on, give it a try!" he spread his arms widely. "Shoot!"

Lara could see the tension between two men and she knew that the agent was ready to pull the trigger. She had to act.

"Norman, don't do this!" she yelled, getting up again and walking toward her friend. "He's not worth that. Actually, he's worth less than mud on my shoes." she finished, standing beside the man and grabbing his arm. "Do you really wish to have this sort of a scumbag on your conscience?" she asked calmly, looking directly into Norman's eyes.

He returned the look. Then he sighed deeply and lowered the gun. "You're right. He doesn't deserve even that." he said, hiding the weapon in his jacket. Next, he looked at Lara and touched her nose. "I'm sorry again" he whispered "for letting him to harm you."

"Don't be..." the girl responded, smiling weakly.

In this particular moment Captain Perry arrived.

"Damn traffic jams!" he sighed and started to take off his coat. "Now, what's this 'very important thing' you wanted to present to me, Jayden?" he asked, looking at the young man with growing impatience.

Norman bit his lower lip."It's been... destroyed."

"Destroyed? How? When?" Perry looked like someone who has just heard that Christmas has been canceled this year.

The profiler sighed and lowered his gaze. "Never mind. The important thing is that the evidence is gone. I cannot retrieve the data."

"All the data is gone?" Perry asked.

Jayden simply nodded.

"That means you can't help us now. Without your data, I mean. I'm sorry to say that, Jayden, but it looks like we have to send you back to D.C. empty-handed." the Captain sighed again. 'But all is not lost because Carter will assume this case now and I believe in him. He's a good cop and he knows how to handle things like these. Right, Carter?" he turned to lieutenant.

"Of course." Blake nodded. "Thank you, Sir."

"So I guess the meeting's over. It's middle of the night. Let's all go back to beds now and think about the killer in the morning, okay?" Captain decided. The other policeman left almost immediately, without saying a word. Perry started to turn around but the bloodstained girl caught his eye.

"Miss, are you okay? What's happened?" he asked, watching her narrowly with his brown eyes.

Lara exchanged conniving glance with Norman and responded "I fell over, Sir."

"Well, my dear, you should be more careful then." Captain encapsulated and started to walk away.

"I'll keep that in mind." the woman said bitterly and shook her head. "Come on, Norman. Nothing's left for us here. Besides, I have to dress your wounds. I promised you that."

The agent chuckled slightly. "I can't wait to it." and with these words he seized Lara's palm and they both left the station in darkness.


	10. Chapter 10 Confession

Well, here we are. Chapter 10. Sorry that it took me so long, but I've been trying to be patience and wait for my beta reader to fix any grammar issues. Unfortunately, the person doesn't reply any of my mails, just like slump underground. So, I'm publishing last chapters either way, with any mistakes. I'm hoping you'll forgive me.

* * *

Chapter 10

Confession

7th October 2011

1:42 AM

"Ouch! That hurts, you know? You promised you'd be delicate!"

Lara was doing all her best to be gentle but her hands were shaking as she was covering Norman's cuts and bruises with iodine. She hated herself for that. She didn't want to cause more pain to him.

"Relax. We're almost done." she tried to console him, focused on the job.

"I hope so." the man laughed bitterly.

They were both sitting on the green sofa in Lara's apartment. The agent's shirt was lying next to them as the girl was disinfecting the upper part of his body. He refused to decontaminate his lower body, saying that "there's nothing to do there" and Miss Croft wasn't going to jawbone him.

After a few minutes the treatment was over. The woman put the bottle back onto the shelf in the bathroom and brought a fresh towel for Norman, so that he could clean himself. The man grabbed the towel and the shirt, then headed for the bathroom. Meanwhile, Lara made some hot coffee for both of them.

As Jayden left the bathroom, fully clothed, a mug of tasty java was awaiting for him. He smirked and sat down next to the young girl. He took a sip.

"Great. As always." the man complimented the drink and continued the activity until the mug was empty.

"Glad you enjoyed that." she smiled.

FBI agent looked at her. "I truly did. I couldn't imagine living in this city without hot coffee." He thought for a minute. "Actually, I couldn't imagine living here at all, even with hot coffee." he chortled, still watching Lara.

The woman was sipping her java slowly and carefully, relishing the drink. When she finished, she put the mug onto the coffee table and sighed, crossing her legs. "What are we going to do now? ARI has been destroyed, we've got no data, Blake's overtaking the case and there are only a few hours left for us to save Shaun Mars." She held her breath. "This is a catastrophe!"

"For once I have to agree with you." Norman said sadly. "This is a disaster."

Miss Croft hid her face in her hands.

"_If there's anything that is a true disaster, it's my life."_

"_Don't be so sure about that. The change is at your fingertips. Literally."_

"_What do you mean?"_

"_Open up, Lara. Open up."_

"What I do know, though," Jayden said "is that it's my job now."

The woman raised her head and gazed at the man. "What is your job now?"

"The case. I failed. I have to carry responsibility for presumptive death of the kid. I need to finish this on my own."

"No." she said immediately.

"What do you mean?" the agent asked curiously.

"It's still OUR job, OUR case. We'll finish this together." with these words she put her hand on Jayden's palm.

Suddenly the man raised and started to stare at Lara with madness visible in his pale eyes. "You don't understand anything! If I fuck up, I'll get sacked. If WE fuck up, I'll get sacked and you'll get imprisoned! I cannot let this happen!"

"Why?" Now Lara stood up.

For a moment Norman was rendered speechless. "Because!" he finally shouted.

"You mean you're leaving me? After I saved your life twice?"

"From what I heard your life is complicated enough. You need no addict in it." he said blandly, not even looking at the girl.

"How can you know?" she asked calmly.

"I simply do. I am a profiler after all."

Lara bit her lower lip. "You're sure-"

"I won't change my mind, Lara. I'm sorry if I gave you any hopes for... for anything. You're still a stranger to me. I didn't want it to happen like that but there's no other way."

He was almost crying. She could tell by the timbre of his voice. She looked into his eyes. They were full of teardrops. She raised her hand to shave them but Norman seized her hand halfway. Now he was gazing directly into her irises.

Now she couldn't hide that she was crying too.

The woman knew that it would happen. She was ready for this. She was getting ready for this for her whole life.

That moment she simply closed her eyes and didn't care for tears as Norman's lips were kissing hers; first slowly and gently, then more passionately, as he was hurrying for something very special. His mouth was moving lower and lower. Lara closed her eyes and didn't hesitate even for a blink of an eye – how possibly could she? She simply let the man remove her clothing, piece by piece and lead her towards the bed. Actually, she had nothing to say. The decision had been made the first day she met him. She was the one who was supposed to save him. And love was the only salvation for him now. Maybe he was an addict, but even an addict wants to be needed and loved. Norman deserved at least that little. And she was ready to give it to him.

In the next few moments she was lying on her bed, fully naked and she could feel him everywhere: on her lips and tongue, in her hair, finally inside her. They were both crying, finding comfort in somebody else's arms as the only solution to all the pain and evil that had happened in their lives. Strong arms of the man were driving her crazy and his moves were leading towards the inevitable peak.

When Norman finally laid next to her and when she closed her eyes, her head on his chest, she knew that this was the change her double was talking about: it truly was at her fingertips, under her head, deep in her heart.

And it would remain there forever.

If they don't fuck up the case.


	11. Chapter 11 Solving The Puzzle

Here it is. Norman and Lara have to solve the puzzle... But how to do this without omniscient ARI? Read and find out!

* * *

Chapter 11

Solving The Puzzle

7th October 2011

5:11 AM

When she woke up, she felt like all the previous night was just a dream, just pure imagination. And she almost believed in it – at least until she could hear the steady sound of someone breathing. She wanted to move but SOMEONE has enfolded his arms around her waist what was making any moves almost impossible. She managed to turn her head a bit, though, and she saw Norman, sleeping peacefully with nose buried in her hair. This was a breathtaking view. He was looking so calm, like a small baby, with a sweet smile on his lips. Lara smiled too.

"_You've made a right decision."_

Her double was leaning against the sofa with her arms crossed, grinning.

"Of course I have." the archaeologist whispered, trying to disengage from the man's grip without waking him up, what wasn't that easy. "If I make a decision, it's always right. Haven't you learned that yet?"

Alter-Lara laughed. _"No. What I've learned, is that without me, you'd be crying alone in a dark, empty room of your narrow mind."_

"_Empty and narrow mind?" _the woman asked, finally struggling free and sitting on the bed. _"Well, that's amazingly accurate description of the mind of yours, Dop."_

The specter raised her both hands. _"Whoa, slow down. First of all, don't call me Dop. I don't like it. About the mind: maybe I'm not as clever as you, Miss Perfection, but I'm open-minded for people, especially for handsome people. I know that one particular man ruined your life. But it doesn't mean that every one of males on this Earth are just like that." _she made a pause there and crossed her arms again. _"Fortunately, there's no need to tell you that now, as you've finally found your knight." _There was no venom in her voice this time so Lara smiled to her double. The girl standing opposite her smiled back.

"_So, now as we're after emotional stuff, I suggest you to get up your ass and start solving the puzzle. There's a kid waiting for both of you somewhere, and it's your job to find him. Don't screw this up, I beg you!" _and after these words the specter suddenly disappeared.

Lara sighed and took a quick look at the Sleeping Beauty lying beside her.

_No way I could possibly wake him up now. This would be a felony. He's got a long way behind him, even a longer ahead of him. I'll let him rest._

She raised and stretched herself. Then she attempted to make a step but the pain was unendurable. It felt like she had been doing the splits for the entire night.

"Well, that's the price you pay for fifteen minutes of pleasure: two days of purgatory." she laughed bitterly and slowly directed her footsteps to the bathroom.

After a while she finally managed to enter the bathroom. She immediately stripped naked and got under the shower. The spouts of hot, almost boiling water helped her muscles and mind to relax and forget about everything at least for a few minutes. The grapefruit smell of her shower gel was mollifying her senses. That was exactly what she needed that morning.

When she turned the water off and took a towel to dry herself, she finally looked in the mirror. The view she saw astonished her so much that she was ready to believe that there's someone else on the other side of panel.

The woman in the looking glass beamed with energy and joy. Light complexion was chiming with her chocolate-brown sparkling eyes and long, brown hair with ginger highlights. There was nothing in her from the girl who was there several days earlier.

Miss Croft smiled. The woman in the mirror did the same.

_Looks like I've changed during these past days... _the girl concluded. _Luckily, for the better. MUCH better, actually._

The young archaeologist finished her toilet and left the room. She peeked into the wardrobe to choose something to wear and decided to try black leather trousers, gray long-sleeved blouse with V-neck and red leather jacket. Next she took a small piece of paper and wrote a short letter to Norman in case he wakes up, saying that she had left to get something for breakfast. Then she looked once more on Jayden, hid her cell phone and keys in the pocket and left the apartment, closing the door behind her.

It was raining, as always, and Lara walked fast to the nearest grocery store, meanwhile dialing Simon's number.

"Yes?" the sleepy voice said in the phone.

"Hey, Simon. It's Lara here." the girl said carefully.

"Lara?" Simon snorted. "I should have known you'd be the only one who would dare calling me at this sort of hour. What's up?"

The woman looked around and whispered "I need some very important info. ASAP!"

"That is?"

"Next 30 minutes." the woman held her breath but there were no screams nor yelling in the phone. "Simon? You there?"

"Yeah, I'm there." her interlocutor confirmed.

"Have you heard what I've just said?" she asked.

"Sure, You need some important info in 30 minutes." Simon sounded so consciously that Lara was truly amazed.

"And?" she asked eagerly.

"Well, it depends what kind of info."

"I need the locations of the crime scenes related to the Origami Killer case."

The man was absolutely calm. "That's all?"

Miss Croft bit her lip. "I guess yes. At least for now."

"What's the chance you'll phone me again this morning?" he asked up front.

She shook her head. "I can't tell now. But there is a possibility."

"That means I have to stay awake." Simon sighed. "All right. At you service, Ma'am."

She had to ask him about this. "Why so acquiescent today? Usually you'd kvetch and curse."

He thought for a moment. "To be perfectly honest, I haven't got a clue. Somehow I woke up in a good mood. Just pray now for me not to become a crank you truly love."

"Very funny." she responded blandly. "I will. Bye for now. And... thanks."

"Not a pro, Lara. Anything to help out a friend. Call me in case you need anything more, okay?"

"Sure. Bye for now."

"Bye. Hear ya in 30 minutes!"

The woman smiled and pressed red headphone on her cell. The conversation was over for now.

Meanwhile she got to the grocery store. She got inside and bought some coffee, a packet of biscuits and a jar of strawberry jam. She had almost left when she spotted the newest issue of _The Philadelphia Inquirer._ She took a quick look at the front page. Nothing unusual: some petty crimes, new lieutenant and a history of a lady who claims that in the previous incarnation she was a cleaning lady of George Washington himself.

"_Same shit, different day." _thought Lara. But after a while she reached the conclusion: _"If we screw up today, tomorrow's newspapers will welter in our failure and Shaun's tragic death. That means I wouldn't like to buy any newspapers for at least a year." _She sighed. _"Well, alright, I'll take it and consider it as the last newspaper in my nearest future."_

The girl took the paper and paid at the cash desk. Then she left the store and slowly walked home, trembling with cold.

When she got inside, she saw Norman doing something in the kitchen. When he heard her he turned around and smiled sweetly, the exact way she loved it. Then he came closer to her, took her face into his smooth, adroit palms and placed a short, romantic kiss on her lips. Lara was delighted.

"I'll take this from you." with these words the man took the bag from her and placed it on the worktop in the kitchen. He started to unpack things and placed all except the newspaper in the cupboard. Next he took a big mug in his hands and brought it to Lara.

"Here you are." he said, giving her the drink.

"Thanks." the girl replied and took a sip. It was coffee. Quite good, actually. She took another sip.

"I wonder what were you doing in the kitchen." she said, looking at her friend.

"I've been making breakfast for us." he said with disarming sincerity.

Lara shook her head. "You can't tell me you cook."

Norman scratched himself. "Well, I enjoy it. I'm almost done with pancakes. I need five minutes more. Sit down and wait, okay?"

The archaeologist nodded and sat down at the table, drinking coffee and watching Norman bustling in the kitchen.

_He's amazing. He fights criminals, plays the piano and cooks. A dream of every woman. I wonder if he sweeps up and does the washing-up, too._

"Here you are. Pancakes with strawberry jam." Norman put the plate in front of her and sat down on the second chair. "Bon appetit."

She smiled and put a piece of hotcake into her mouth. It was delicious.

"How do you like it?" Jayden asked with a huge grin on his lips.

"They're awesome." she couldn't say anything more because suddenly she found out that she's so hungry that she needed to eat her fill first.

They were eating in silence. When they finished the meal, Norman took both plates and silverware and rinsed them. Then he put them in the dishwasher.

Meanwhile Lara drew a map of Philadelphia and spread it out on the table. Then she took a look at her watch. It was the highest time Simon should give a sign of life.

In that moment she received a text message – from Simon, of course.

"_Data sent to your email. Usual security – shouldn't have any problems. Not classified but better be careful. Call if need anything. S."_

Lara turned on her MacBook and entered her email account. Indeed, the message was there. She tried to open it – to no effect. She smiled – that's how it should be. She got to her bedroom and took a small carton box. She opened it and drew a small unsigned CD.

"What's that?" Norman asked when she put it in the drive.

"You'll see." she answered and on the screen appeared millions sequences of numbers. Some were blinking, some weren't. Lara pressed Enter key and, as if by magic, the digits on the screen dressed in some particular order. She pressed the key again and the file with the data opened, revealing the information they needed so badly.

"So what's that?" Jayden reopened a question.

"It's a disc with decryption program written by a friend of mine. This is the way we're sending important messages to each other. Without it," she waved the disc before the man's eyes "I won't be able to open the message and read the data."

"Clever." the agent nodded and took a place next to Lara. "What's in this particular message?"

"Data about the Origami Killer's victims, mainly the places where they were found. From what I know, you had a map with these places on ARI, right?"

"Yeah." Norman confirmed. "But what's the point?"

"I've got a paper map of Philly. We'll try to recreate the map of yours on it. No virtual world, just reality. I've got the addresses here. Let's start, shall we?"

The man thought for a moment. "Right. We haven't got much time left. Let's do it."

"Go and stand over the map. I'll give you the address and you'll mark the place on the map. There are some markers on the table, use them." the woman ordered.

The man did as she said. He grabbed a marker and said "Ready. Give the first address."

Lara took a look at the screen. "Alright. First body was found at the corner of Franklin Avenue and Jefferson Alley. Got it?"

"Hold on... Yeah, got it. Next...?"

"Next is..."

* * *

"That was the last one, right?" Norman ensured.

"Right." Lara confirmed and gazed at her interlocutor. "You've got everything?"

"I guess I do." the man replied. "Come here and have a look."

"Sure." the woman raised and walked to Norman. Then she glanced at the map. "Everything seems fine for me. Give me the marker." she took it from her friend and connected the dots. As a result, a big circle appeared on the plan.

"That's the killer's comfort zone." Jayden said.

"About ten square mile." Miss Croft nodded. "Ten thousand people, maybe more. We won't question them one by one." She scratched in the head and sighed. "We need to narrow down the zone. We need more clues."

"Yes but where from?" the man asked the most important question.

"I haven't got a faintest idea." Lara wiped her eyes. She was tired. She had slept for just a few hours, the lower part of her body hurt as hell and the last thing she needed now was an investigation to solve.

Norman nestled the woman to his chest. They both remained like that for about a minute.

"Sorry, I have to pull myself together." she said when he finally released her.

"That's okay. It's normal that you may have some doubts. But trust me, we'll save Shaun Mars and catch the killer. I promise you that." Jayden's voice was calm and perky and that helped her to relax. In this particular moment she simply KNEW that they're going to succeed. There was no other option.

"Now, let's peek at the plan again and search for the key to this riddle." the man continued and approached the table. He leaned his arms against the map, upsetting the nearly empty mug that fell to the floor, spilling coffee all over the room but, luckily, not battering the mug itself.

"Shit." he muttered under his breath and flung on the floor to save the pit. "Sorry! I didn't mean that!" he started to excuse but Lara hushed him with a gesture of her hand.

"Hey, take it easy, okay? I'll bring some tissues to clean up this mess." she said and directed her footsteps to the kitchen. There weren't any tissues there, though.

She snapped her fingers. "I've got some Kleenexes in my bag. The question is where is the bag..."

She glanced at the coat hanger hopefully. "There it is!" she said and walked towards her purse.

She opened it and put her palm in it, trying to reach tissues. But what she found were two receipts from the same gas station somewhere in Philly. Suddenly she called to mind where were they from.

"Have you found any tissues?" Norman asked her, still kneeling on the floor and trying to dry the pit with his own handkerchief.

"Forget tissues. Look at what I've just found." the girl said firmly and squatted beside her interlocutor. "Do you know where is it from?" she asked him, showing him the receipts.

"Nope." he shook his head.

"I found it in Paco's office last night after our fight with the Origami Killer." She drew a deep breath. "It had to fall out of the killer's pocket."

Norman opened his mouth to say something but closed it immediately. He took the receipts and took a glance at them. "It's very probable." he pronounced eventually. Then he looked at Lara.

"Looks like we've found the missing clue." he said, smiling. He rose and approached the map again. He read the address from the scraps. "47 Hemingway Street. That is..." he watched the plan for a moment. "...here." he pointed out a place on the map. He took a marker and checked the spot. "The place where the first victim was found is here." he pointed another dot. "That means..." he drew a circle with the center in the gas station. The place of first murder was on the circumference of the circle. "...that means the killer must live somewhere there!" he shouted and looked at Lara with joy in his eyes.

"It's still up to five hundred people living in this zone." the archaeologist sighed. "Still not good enough. We need something more."

"I know." Norman sighed too. "But there's nothing more to go on."

"Damn." the woman cursed under her breath and walked to the kitchen. She leaned against the worktop and spotted the newspaper. She flicked through it and one specific article captured her attention.

"_Another sheriff in town_..." she read the headline aloud. Then she took a quick look at the photo under it and froze. She couldn't believe her own eyes. She started to read the article – everything seemed to jibe perfectly. _But could it be...?_

"Norman..." she said slowly.

"Yes?"

"Come here."

The man walked towards her. "I'm here. What's wrong?"

"Take a look at the photo." she ordered him.

"Okay." He did as she said. "And?"

"Doesn't it remind you of anything?" the girl asked, looking at Jayden in tension.

He thought for a minute, watching the photo. "No, it does-" he broke off in mid-sentence. "Hold on..." he continued after a pause. "Is THIS what you mean?" he asked, pointing out a detail at the photograph.

"EXACTLY." she responded.

"Of course I do remember. The golden watch at the station. It was supposed to be given to Larry for his promotion to lieutenant." the agent said, shaking his head.

"Well, actually Larry was promoted yesterday." Miss Croft said calmly. "This is the article describing this event." she knocked her finger in the paper. "And you'd never guess where else I've seen this watch."

"Where?" Norman asked immediately.

Lara made a pause. "On the wrist of the Origami Killer."

Jayden was looking at her like like at a madman. "Are you absolutely certain?"

"I've never been more certain about anything in my life than this." the woman nodded.

"You know what it means?" the man asked her.

"Sure I do." she said. "The killer is or was a cop. Lieutenant, to be precise."

"Carter Blake!" Jayden grabbed his head. "He's the killer! That explains the dead-end investigation and his desire to frame Ethan Mars!"

Now Lara was looking at Norman like at an insane person. "I don't believe that. Blake is an unbalanced, psychopathic asshole but he's not the killer. Trust me, that's not him."

Her friend took a deep breath. "You're right. He's a bad cop but he's not a murderer. Who's the killer then?" he asked.

As a reply Lara pulled out her mobile phone and dialed a number.

"Who are you phoning?" Jayden was curious.

"An old friend of mine." she responded. "Come on, Simon. Pick up the phone!" she kept whispering to the phone.

"Yes?" she finally heard.

"Thanks God!" the young woman said. "Simon, I need your help. IMMEDIATELY."

"Fine. What exactly do you need?" he asked blandly.

She bit her lower lip. "Tell me how many lieutenants are there in Philadelphia."

"You know you could get that sort of info on the Net, right?" he inquired.

"Right." she confirmed.

He sighed. "Fine. Hold on a sec." There was silence in the phone for a minute. Norman gave Lara a questioning look. She said nothing.

"You still there?" she heard.

"Yeah, I'm here. Go on." the girl pricked up her ears.

"These days we've got sixteen cops who are lieutenants or were once, but got promoted or were pensioned off." Simon said. "Thirteen of them are on active duty. The rest of them are retired."

"Sixteen..." Lara made a pause. "Thanks. That was the easy part. Now the hard one: does any of lieutenants live close to the gas station on 47 Hemingway Street?" she asked the crucial question.

"What sort of question is that? What do you need the info for?" the man seemed to have doubts.

The girl sighed. "Listen to me, Simon. It's VERY important! I cannot tell you what do I need this for but trust me, it can't wait! I need the info now or else a kid's gonna die and we won't be able to help him in any manner!" now she was almost shouting. "Do you want to have the boy on your conscience, Simon?" the archaeologist calmed down a little and asked her friend at the other end of the phone. "Do you really want this?"

There was silence in the phone. Miss Croft waited for Simon to say something. She knew he wouldn't leave her high and dry.

"There's one retired lieutenant living in the area you mentioned." he finally spoke. "He owns an old warehouse in the docks. Its address is 852 Theodore Roosevelt Road. I think that's the place you're looking for." and he said the longed-for name.

Lara froze. _THAT man? Did he just say THAT name? It can't be the person I'm thinking about but... is there any other man of this name in Philly?_

"You're sure about the name?" she asked hesitantly.

"Yeah. That's him." she could almost see him nodding. "Don't tell me you don't believe me."

She laughed. "Of course I do believe you."

"So what's the problem?"

She shook her head. "There's no problem. It just... appears that I knew this man once... But I can't be sure about it."

Simon whistled. "Wow. In that case it would become rather interesting, wouldn't it?"

The girl sighed. "Yeah, no doubt it would."

_Hopefully, just WOULD, not WILL._

"Now you've got what you wanted, Lara." the man said. "Now go and save the kid. Good luck." and after these words he hung up.

"What's wrong, Lara?" Norman asked when the young archaeologist hid her face in her hands. "Who's the killer? You knew him once?" he kept inquiring her all the time, holding her in his arms. "What does all this stuff mean?"

"What it means," she finally managed to say after a minute "is that we've got our Origami Killer."


	12. Chapter 12 The Old Warehouse

The highest time to confront the Origami Killer. Starring: Lara Croft, Norman Jayden, the Origami Killer, Shaun Mars and PIPES.

* * *

Chapter 12

The Old Warehouse

7th October 2011

7:22 AM

Fortunately, the traffic wasn't so bad and Jayden's car rolled in front of the old storehouse at 852 Theodore Roosevelt Road after just 27 minutes of drive. This time Norman spared Lara unnecessary questions and warnings. Just right after he stopped the car, the woman jumped out of the automobile and ran towards the door of the warehouse. The man shouted to wait for him but she didn't listen. She approached the door and almost got inside when she heard a voice in her head.

"_Be careful. The killer might be inside."_

"_You think he'd kill me? After all these years?"_

"_He may not recognize you, ESPECIALLY after all these years. Besides, he may not be happy to see you here, discovering his little secret. Answering your question: yes, it's possible that he would kill you. That's why you have to wait for Norman."_

"_But Shaun can be actually dying NOW! We have to act!"_

"_Exactly. WE, not you alone. You won't help the kid if you die. Wait for Norman."_

"_This is bullshit! I fight even better than Norman! I can take care of myself!"_

"_I have no doubts about that, but he's got a gun. The killer has probably one too. And you don't. Sorry."_

"_Sorry? I'll show you sorry you chicken!"_

"_That's the law of the jungle, darling."_

"Norman, where the hell are you?" the young archaeologist yelled finally, turning around just to see her brave agent standing right beside her.

"I'm here. No need to mangle my eardrums." he replied, leering at her. "We're going inside?"

"Sure." Miss Croft responded. Norman drew his gun and gave her a questioning look. She nodded. After her approval he slowly opened the door and he walked inside, with his firearm aimed in the darkness and the girl breathing down his neck.

They were moving slowly, aware that the killer might be watching their every step. They knew that if he was armed, he would be able to shoot them in that moment but they had to move forwards. They had no other choice. They'd come this far and they couldn't draw back now. They were Shaun's only hope. If they failed, he died. These were the rules of that crazy game which they were taking part in. The game hadn't finished yet, though. There was still no winner on the horizon and they had to play until one appears.

After a few dozens of seconds which happened to last for hours they finally reached the second part of the complex in one piece. There were two catwalks over some sort of pipes that ran all around the place. On the other side of them there was a square well with a metal grid on the top of it. The grid was stuck to the ground with a padlock.

When Lara peeked inside the well she saw a horrible view. There was a small boy, maybe ten years old, pale as sheet, floating on the surface of the water. His eyes were closed. He had to be unconscious... or dead.

"It's Shaun!" the woman shouted to Jayden. "We have to get him out of there!"

"Hang on kid! We're getting you out of this well in a minute!" Norman said and knelt beside the grid. Then he started to twitch and tug it but it didn't wish to open up.

After several seconds of watching the man's efforts Miss Croft rolled her eyes and crouched, pulling out Norman's gun.

"Hey, what the hell are you doing?" the agent started to protest but he wasn't quick enough. The girl aimed at the padlock and pulled the trigger.

First there was a loud bang and then a crack as the padlock hit the ground a few foots from them.

"Now we can open this up." she said calmly and gave the gun back to speechless friend. Then she got up and started to pull the grid. She gazed at him. "Will you help me or not?"

Jayden opened his mouth but closed it a second later. Next he rose and started to pull the grid together with Lara. Eventually, after a few tries they managed to open it. Norman immediately ducked into the well and grabbed Shaun. He started to pull him up and with the woman's help the boy was finally on the ground. Miss Croft checked his pulse. She felt it despite the fact that it was very weak. Then she checked his breath.

"Damn, he's not breathing. He needs CPR." she said and the man nodded.

"Okay, so I take care of the ventilation and you do cardiac massage, right?"

He nodded again.

"Fine, let's make it quick. We don't want the murderer to catch us here."

"I'm afraid it's a bit too late for that, Miss." she was able to hear a familiar voice behind her. Before she turned her head around, though, she heard Norman's groan and out of the corner of her eye saw him lying on the ground.

"What are you doing here, kiddo? You're NOT his father! You're not even old enough to be his father!" after these words the man kicked the agent in the face. Then he drew a gun and aimed at him. This was something Lara couldn't stand.

"Stop it, Scott." she said firmly, rising and looking directly into Origami Killer's hazel eyes.

Now Scott Shelby looked at her. She could see some sort of change inside him. She didn't know was it for the better or for the worse, though.

"How you dare-" he made a pause and started to watch her carefully. "Are you...? You can't be..."

"But I am, Scott." the woman confirmed. "I AM that young girl you promised to help."

Now the man stopped aiming at Norman and lowered his gun. "It's been so long..."

"Eleven years..." she nodded and sighed. "What have you done with your life, Scott? First, you left the police. Then you started killing for nothing. What's happened?"

"You don't understand." Shelby clenched his teeth.

"_Watch out! Don't piss him off. Trust me, that's a VERY bad idea. Calm him down."_

"_Fine. And then what? I'm not going to chat with him for the entire morning."_

"_Of course you're not. See that metal pipe on the ground?"_

Lara took a quick look at the object her double meant. _"Yeah, I do. What about it?"_

"_You have to talk with Shelby long enough to approach the pipe, grab it and hit the man with it."_

"_But how am I supposed to do this? He'll know when I start to walk in his direction."_

"_That's why you have to talk the hind legs of a donkey to him and get closer and closer with every sentence. This way he won't notice anything and you'll be able to strike."_

"_Thanks for helping me out."_

"_What are you talking about? I'm helping ME out. If you die, I die. That's why I have to keep you alive, even if I don't want to."_

"_And you don't?"_

Her double didn't answer to that question, though.

_Of course... As always..._

She sighed and glanced at Scott. "I understand. I understand that your brother died because of your constantly drinking father." she made a step towards him. He didn't notice it so she kept talking. "I understand that you alone weren't able to help him and that you had to watch him die."

_Another step... A few more to go..._

"Finally, I understand your need to find a father capable of saving his own kid." She made a pause there. "But I can't and don't want to understand why you killed all these boys. They had done no harm to you. There had been no reason to drown them."

"Their fathers were weak. They weren't able to save their sons." Shelby said blandly. "But somewhere there," he pointed at a big window on one of the walls. "Somewhere there exists a father who would save his kid. I have to find him."

"You keep doing the same mistake your father had done." Miss Croft claimed. "You let the boys die... You do nothing to help them." she stepped forwards. "You only drink their fathers' despair. For now you've emptied eight bottles." She took another step. "Don't you think that's enough, Scott?"

She rendered Shelby speechless. He closed his eyes.

"_This is your chance, girl! Go on!"_

"_Not yet..."_

"_What do you mean: not yet?"_

"_Maybe I'll convince him..."_

"_WHAT? He's a killer! He'd murder you with cold blood if you gave him a reason."_

"_Still I want to try."_

"_You know this is a suicide."_

"_Perhaps. I won't know until I try, right?"_

"_You're nuts."_

Lara bit her lip. She wanted to know what had happened with the man in front of her. He had used to be a good cop, a friend of Terry. And now... now he became the Origami Killer. But she was still hoping that some part of the previous him remained and this hope kept telling her she had to give it a try. She had to awake the sense of guilt in him if she wanted to know the whole truth. The only way was to talk with him as with a friend.

The woman smiled and stepped forward. "You know that someone broke into my apartment a few days ago, Scott? Fortunately, nothing valuable was missing. The only thing that had been stolen was-" she stopped, realizing WHO was on the stolen photo.

"It was you." she said slowly, lifting her eyes and looking at Shelby. "You broke into my apartment and stole the photograph."

He didn't deny her words. He was just glancing at her, with sadness on his face.

"Why?"

"I've heard that an FBI guy was coming to the city. I had to become more careful and get rid of anything that could be related to me." the man laughed bitterly. "I had a good nose about you. You've been helping him from the very beginning." He sighed now. "Well, it hasn't really helped much, though. I tried to keep you away from me but you've finally found me."

"Looks like it." the girl beamed. "So what do you do now, Scott? How do you earn your living?" she asked, taking another step.

"I'm a private detective now. I run my own Detective Bureau. You know, mobile surveillance, background checks, undercover investigations, that sort of things." he explained briefly. "You can subsist on it. The wages are livable." He sighed. "But I've pulled down more when I was a cop."

"Why did you leave the police then, Scott?" Lara inquired. "It hasn't really help you. Now you earn less and you've lost contact with all your colleagues from PPD."

Shelby smiled. "That's true but I had to do this." Now his face became more tense. "Actually, I quit because of you."

She frowned. "Because of me?"

The man nodded. "That's right. I've promised to help you. I've promised that I'll find Mark Williams, the murderer of you mother. I've promised that not only to you, but to my Captain, too." He sighed. "But I wasn't able to find the killer. I couldn't fulfill the promise. Neither this given to Captain nor to you. So I had to resign. I had no other choice." he laughed bitterly. "But I've kept the uniform... And the watch. They became quite useful later."

"You know we've found you by this watch?"

"Oh really?" he wondered. "Well, it doesn't really matter now. Either way I have to kill both of you."

Miss Croft froze. "Why is that?"

Scott sighed. "You have discovered my little secret. I cannot let you tell the world about it."

"And what about Shaun?" she asked.

"I'll put him back in the well. His father failed. He's not here. The kid's doom is sealed." the man stated dryly.

"Scott, we can still fix this. Please let us save Shaun." she was almost crying now.

He shook his head. "I'm sorry but I can't." he raised his gun and aimed at the girl. "I'm really sorry, Lara. I didn't want it to turn out like that but..."

"_Now, girl! GO!"_

Miss Croft grabbed the pipe under her feet and swiped at Shelby. Unfortunately, she missed. The man stepped aside and managed to grab the pipe. Then he hit the woman and next he started to smother her with the object. Lara started to kick and tear loose. Finally she freed herself and took the pipe from Scott. This time she connected and the man fell to the ground. She threw the pipe away, turned back and started to run towards the metal stairs. Then she turned right and began to climb the ladder leading to the roof of the warehouse. Out of the corner of her eye she saw Shelby getting up and Norman lying on the floor, still unconsciousness.

_I hope he's okay. And wakes up in time to save Shaun's life._

Eventually after several more sets of stairs she got outside. It was raining as always. Additionally there was a powerful thunderstorm over the city. The lightnings were illuminating the sky every ten seconds and it seemed that it wouldn't stop soon.

Lara turned left but stopped because Shelby was running towards her from that particular direction.

_How the hell did he come there so fast? Maybe it's his twin brother...?_

Then she realized how stupid the thought was.

_He SOMEHOW got there. I'm not supposed to know how; I'm supposed to SURVIVE._

After a second she spotted that he had a gun. She turned around and dashed onto a catwalk located high over the ground floor. She heard a shot; Scott missed, though. The bullet hit the railing. She kept running as the second shot was heard; fortunately, he missed that one too. She was almost at the edge when the man pulled the trigger the third time.

This time she didn't hear the bullet hitting anything. She only felt something warm in her abdomen. She didn't really care for now, though. She had more important thing to deal with.

At the edge of the catwalk there was a ladder. Lara jumped onto it and climbed down. Beneath her there were hundreds of containers. The ladder wasn't long enough to let her get down safely. She had to jump. She looked up and saw Scott aiming at her.

She had no choice.

_Now, girl!_

She released the grip and started to fall down. A second later her feet touched the metal container. She rolled to cushion the fall and raised. She didn't look back. She just ran forwards. At the edge she jumped and then landed swiftly on the ground.

In front of her there was a maze of containers. The piles of them were so high that they were obliterating the view and she didn't know where to go. She turned around and saw Scott who was already on the ground. She took a deep breath and started to dash. After a few feet she turned left, then right and right again. She didn't want to lose the gained momentum and ran forwards this time. A slug zinged next to her ear. Despite this fact she kept running deeper into the labyrinth.

After some time she found herself in a long, narrow corridor which walls were containers. She could almost hear Shelby's breathing. She knew he was close.

Then her pursuer fired again. This time the bullet grazed her left calf and the woman fell over. But she had to proceed further although the injury was very nasty. She didn't feel any pain what was weird for her. She knew she got hit but it didn't hurt.

_It must be adrenaline... or any other goddamn hormone or anything in my body._

On all fours she managed to get behind one of the containers in front of her. She took a quick look around her and she spotted a red pipe lying under her feet. She marveled.

_It's the second pipe in this complex... How odd. Looks like someone's helping me out._

After these thoughts she grabbed it and waited. As soon as she could hear footsteps she jumped out from behind the corner and swung, hitting Shelby in the stomach what caused him to release his gun. Then she pushed the pipe in his abdomen and when he was lying on the ground, writhing with pain, she grabbed his gun and aimed at him.

"Go ahead. "she heard from the man. "Shoot. What are you waiting for?"

"_You heard the guy. SHOOT!"_

"_I'm not so sure about it..."_

_"Hey, wake up! It's not the time to have doubts. Just pull the trigger!"_

"_Shouldn't he be put in jail instead?"_

"_Oh, please, hold me or I'll smash you! He's already pulled the trigger more than once. He killed so many innocents. He deserves this. This is your only option. Come on, do it!"_

"_I.. I don't know if I can..."_

"_Of course you can. You're holding him at gunpoint. It's child's play."_

"_Children don't play with guns..."_

"_Stop saying nonsense and fabricating more preposterous excuses right away and just do it! If you don't do it, you'll die. And you know about it."_

"_I do, but..."_

"_PLEASE, no more jive, I beg you! Just. Do. It."_

_She's right... I have to do it. I have no choice._

She closed her eyes and pulled the trigger with her wobbly finger. Nothing happened, though. The clip was empty.

"Damn!" Lara cursed and threw the gun away. Then she took a quick look at Shelby and was immediately stunned by him. She got up as quickly as she could and ran right, where a long metal ladder was located. She started to climb up but Scott pulled her down on the ground, falling over himself. Miss Croft rose again and got back on the ladder. She was climbing as fast as she could and finally, after a few seconds she was high above the floor again. On her left she spotted a yellow booth where the crane driver usually operated the machine. Not giving it a second thought, the girl dashed towards it. She charged inside and closed the door behind her. There she lowered her eyelids and breathed a sigh of relief. The next second though she opened her eyes and started to look all around her.

Shelby wasn't anywhere.

_Oh, how stupid it was to close these goddamn eyes! s_he got her dander up. _Where is he now?_

As the answer to her question, she heard a loud crack. She turned around and saw that it was Scott's fist fracturing the pane. She immediately sprung back so the man couldn't reach her. A loud scream almost escaped her mouth as she saw him lifting a pipe and swiping at her. She stepped aside just in time and hardly evaded the blow.

_The third pipe this morning... I guess I'll stop liking them._

Shelby swung again but she ducked this one as well. It was beginning to start to be too easy. Her pursuer seemed already a bit whacked out. His slugs seemed to be less powerful. She decided to give it a try.

When the man stroke again, she didn't move away this time. Instead she managed to grab the pipe and she started to grapple with the killer.

She overplayed her hand, though. After several moments of even struggle the man twitched the pipe so lustily that she blew up by the already cracked glass and landed sorely on the railing. She didn't even have time to catch her breath because Scott kicked her in the stomach, then he lifted the girl up and threw her over the guardrail onto the boom. She fell hard. By the pain in her chest she concluded she must had broken a rib or two. But despite this fact after a second she was already back on her feet, ready to fight for her life.

The man approached Lara and wagged his weapon. She ducked down and straighten up immediately. Her opponent swung again and she leaned back to avoid the contact with the metal object. A blink of an eye later she had to lean again. This time she had to wave her arms to keep her balance. She knew that one more move from Shelby's side and she was going to fall over.

And then die, stabbed by the Origami Killer.

Her opponent didn't flinch from killing her and swiped once more. This time she couldn't help but landed on the ground. She knew it was over. It was inevitable. No one could do anything about it. Her only hope was that Norman had saved Shaun and the kid would get back to his father safe and sound.

Norman...

_Norman... I love you..._

This was her last thought before she closed her eyes and steeled herself for _coup de grâce_.

But the blow didn't arrive. Instead, she heard a gunshot. At first she almost snorted. Shelby's gun was out of ammo. Besides, it had been left by her far below. Then she heard another one. She was eaten up by curiosity and HAD to lift her eyelids; first the left one, then the right one.

She couldn't believe what she was just witnessing. Scott relinquished the pipe which fell on the ground. Then he started to slowly turn around. As he turned his face against her she heard one more bang. Shelby looked down at his chest and then ahead. Next he leaned left slightly and a second later he was falling, down to the container below, full of rainwater.

Then she raised her gaze and saw her brave hero, Norman himself, approaching her swiftly. He knelt down beside her and took her in his strong arms.

"Lara... Oh my, Lara.." he whispered into her ear. "I was so scared. I was afraid I'll be late.. Afraid that... Oh God, girl." he finally said, glancing into her irises. "Don't ever do this to me again. Ever."

As a response Miss Croft snuggled more tightly into him. She was imbibing with his smell, basking in his heat, sinking in his voice. She didn't care about the pain that Jayden was bringing to her broken ribs. The only thing she wanted at that time was to remain like that forever.

"Is Shaun safe?" she eventually gathered her wits and asked the crucial question.

"Yes." the profiler confirmed. "I've left him downstairs, in the warehouse. He's waiting for us now."

"Good." that was the only thing she managed to mumble before she lost herself in him again.

After a minute that lasted for hours the man finally moved away from her. He smiled weakly. "How do you feel, darling? What has he done to you?"

The woman shrugged. "Shot my calf, broke several ribs and added a few more scratches and bruises. Nothing special."

He frowned. "You call THIS nothing special?"

She nodded. "Comparing it to everything that I've gotten thought recently, that was like a walk in the park."

"Well, I'd say that was like a walk in the park full of zombies." he quipped, almost laughing.

She couldn't help but beamed as well. "Yeah, full of zombies with PIPES." she emphasized the last word. "Oh, about the pipes... Before I forget." She glanced at Norman. "Remind me not to ever... EVER... become a plumber. I HATE pipes and I want no part of them in my life." She said that having absolutely solemn expression but Jayden couldn't help and laughed.

"Hey, I'm dead serious! Don't laugh!" she tried to settle him down but a moment later she was laughing herself. Then she lowered her gaze and froze.

"Christ, Norman, what's happened to you?" she touched his shirt on his abdomen, diffused with blood.

"To me?" he wondered. "Nothing." He took a look at Lara's stomach and she followed his glance.

"Oh shit!" the agent said devil's paternoster. "Shit, shit, shit..."

In woman's abdomen there was a deep, red hole, which was bleeding like a stuck pig. That was the reason for Lara feeling warm in that place. Suddenly, she started to feel dizzy and not even knowing when, she landed on the ground. She could only watch Norman's terrified face as he kept yelling "Lara, come on girl, stay with me! Don't leave me now, I beg you!" He was almost crying. "Lara! Lara, talk to me! Lara..."

She didn't hear anything more of him. She closed her eyes and sank into darkness.


	13. Epilogue  Flowers On The Grave

Epilogue

Flowers On The Grave

17th June 2014

11:37 AM

Coming back home is never easy.

Sometimes it brings relief, sometimes it only amplifies the pain. When you come back to the city of your youth; the city of your hopes, dreads, joys and dreams; the city where you have spent both the best and the worst years of your life, it's rather hard to tell whether it gives you solace or woe...

"Dear present here. Today we gathered in this place to pay our last respects to Terry Lawson, who has finished his pilgrimage on this Earth. He was a loving husband, father and friend. None of us expected him to die so suddenly, even despite his fatal disease. He was fighting until the very end, but, eventually, the lung cancer has sucked the last juices of life out of him. His last will was to be buried here, on Wights' Dead End Cemetery, next to his old friend. I know it is not easy to speak in circumstances like these, but, trust me," the Afro-American priest made a pause and looked at the small group of people in front of him, all dressed in black. "I really do feel sympathy for all of you."

After these words the man started to slowly go away, wanting to leave the family and friends alone over the grave of the deceased.

"Father." a young woman steeped forward from the crowd of mourners. The priest turned away and glanced at her. She was undeniably beautiful. Her sun-kissed skin was smooth and mat and her hazel eyes were sparkling like two stars – maybe that was because of tears? She was slender, or rather had been, as her quite big belly showed that she was pregnant at that time. She could be in third or fourth month of gestation.

"Yes?" he asked, moving towards her.

"Thank you for these last words. That's very kind of you." she said with disarming faint smile on her full lips.

The man smiled back. "You're welcome, my child. You're welcome." he turned around and directed his footsteps to the nearby church, saving the image of this girl under his eyelids.

A man with ice pale irises approached the woman from behind and wrapped his long arms around her.

"Are you okay, Lara?" he asked, kissing her gently on her cheek.

"I guess." she sighed, wiping her eyes out. "I shouldn't blubber like that. Terry wouldn't appreciate it." she said finally, turning her head around and looking at her companion.

He rolled his eyes. "Relax, girl. You've just lost your father. Besides, you're pregnant. You've got the full right to cry and be moody in any way you like."

Mrs Jayden smiled weakly but said nothing. After several seconds she emancipated herself from her husband's cuddle and approached a black woman kneeling by the grave. Tears were running down her face as she was adjusting flowers on the tombstone.

"I'm sure he loved the ceremony." Lara spoke slowly, lifting the other woman up, then looking into her eyes. "He had always wanted it to be simple and quick, and I think we managed to keep it like that."

"He was so excited about the boys..." the African American finally managed to mumble. "Pity he's not going to ever see them."

"He is, Kate." the gravid ensured her foster mother. "He'll be watching them growing from above. But that's a shame that they are never going to meet any of their granddads. You and Mary will have to be sufficient for all three of them." she laughed faintly. After her words Kate fell to pieces completely and snuggled into her totally. Usually Kate was a bad ass, but she had loved Terry very much and now she was missing him even twice as much as she loved him.

Both women remained like this for a few more seconds. Then Miss Lawson cleared her throat.

"I should go." she decided. "It's just... a bit too much for me now. I have to rest and think."

"Alright." Lara agreed and released her mother. "Just let us know when we will be permitted to visit you, okay?"

Kate smiled. "Of course I will. See you soon. And say goodbye to Norman on my behalf."

Mrs Jayden smiled back. "I'll keep that in mind."

After the exchange the women parted their ways. The Afro-American joined the others on their way back to their cars and the archaeologist walked to Norman. She double backed halfway, though, noticing a familiar name on a headstone nearby. She crouched and took a single white orchid from Terry's grave.

"I hope you'll forgive me." she said, rising and directing her footsteps to Norman, but passing him and moving further, deeper in-between the tombs.

"What are you doing, Lara?" the agent asked, frowning and following her. The woman didn't respond and just continued walking.

After several feet she stopped and lowered her eyes. Jayden stopped too and followed her gaze.

"Do you want to...?" he asked her hesitantly. "I mean, you're sure about that?"

Lara nodded. "He deserves at least this little respect after all." She knelt down and placed the flower on the gravestone. Then she closed her eyes and said a quick, yet touching prayer. When Norman was helping her to get back on her feet, she was crying again. The man turned her around, took her face in his palms and placed a soft, gentle kiss on the woman's mouth. As their lips finally parted, they heard some steps behind them. They turned their faces to the source of this sound.

"Hey, relax, it's me." a familiar voice greeted them.

"Ethan?" the girl wondered. "What are you doing here?"

"I wanted to speak with you and I accidentally read the obituary notice about Terry." He made a pause there and looked into Lara's irises. "Sincerest condolences."

"Thanks." she replied.

"Why did you want do speak with us?" Jayden inquired.

Mars scratched himself in the head. "Well, I wanted to show you the project I've drawn recently. Something perfect for you." Then he blushed slightly. "And... I've heard that you're pregnant." he apostrophized to the woman. "I wanted to congratulate both of you and wish the kid to be healthy."

Now Lara turned red. "Actually, the KIDS."

Ethan opened his mouth with astonishment. "Wait... You say they're TWINS?"

"One labor, one upbringing." Norman smiled. "Either way, we knew that one child was not enough for us and that we wanted at least two of them."

Ethan nodded. "I see. Boys or girls?"

"Boys." the profiler said with proud written all over his face.

"Have chosen names already?"

The girl nodded. "Phil and Henry, after our fathers."

Mars confirmed he understood everything and regrouped his thoughts. "In this case I have to adjust my design... It will be best if you come and visit me. We could discuss everything composedly. What do you say?" he asked them.

The married couple looked at one another. Lara nodded.

"Okay then." Norman said to Ethan. "Let's go."

All three of them finally exited the graveyard, leaving all the previous memories, woes, straits and tragedies buried deep beneath the surface of the ground and crossing the gate to unknown, unforeseeable future.

* * *

So... Here it is... The story has finished. I'm hoping you liked it and forgave me any of grammar or spelling mistakes. I'm hoping to have a pleasure to read your reviews for my next stories. I'm hoping... Hell, no more hoping! Thank you so much for reading and reviewing and have fun out there, in the real world.  
All the best!

TheAga13


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